Foes From Another World
by Mardrena
Summary: The playing field expands as the Ronin encounter enemies and allies from other nations, planets, and dimensions.
1. The Last Ronin Warrior

_In death we find resolution._

_In death we find damnation._

_In death we find rebirth._

_In death we find salvation._

The Last Ronin Warrior

By Mardrena

A blue and silver metallic form streaked around an antennae tower then shot up straight alongside it. It wove in and out of the beams forming the structure with fluidity only a living being possessed. Rowen looked over his shoulder to see if anything followed him after his aerobatics and sighed in relief. He looked forward and prepared to dive back to the street level, but recoiled in shock upon seeing the hulking metallic form that hovered above him.

Reddish metal plates composed most of the body with detailing in dark green and gold. Thick fingers tipped with razor-sharp metal talons clenched tight around a heavy axe. Instead of smooth militaristic boots, the feet ended in thick talons. Wings composed of metal ribs and leather flapped from its shoulders, amazingly able to support the immense weight of the construct. From a distance, the face looked almost cartoonish, but up close, Rowen saw details that only contributed to the construct's intimidating look. The lower half of the face stretched forward, as if someone had grabbed it by the nostrils and pulled, creating a muzzle. Metallic lips frozen in a cruel grimace displayed jagged teeth. Instead of empty space, or even blank white eyes, hellish light occupied the eye sockets.

A deep echoing growl rumbled within the construct's empty body and out the fanged mouth as it raised its axe. Rowen jerked his attention away from studying the construct up close and dove to put distance between them. Just as he readied his bow to fire, however, the construct folded its wings and dove down to get back in melee range. _*This isn't a Nether Soldier! They don't think, but this thing does! Nether Soldiers don't do this!*_

Just as the construct prepared to drive its axe into Rowen's face, a feathery blue blur swept infront of it and screeched repeatedly. The construct growled in frustration as razor sharp talons carved into the thick face plate. While the large blue bird kept it distracted, Rowen moved around till he had a clear view of its back and fired three shots.

The construct flapped its wings and turned to glare at Rowen, more annoyed than angry. Rowen actually felt nervous and prepared to fire again. Then the construct jerked and writhed in midair. The great blue eagle clung to its back and dug its talons into the armor, cracking it and peeling a large portion back as if opening a sardine can. Black mist billowed out of the opening, and the construct, now clearly dead, plummeted to the ground.

"Thanks for the help, Razor Wing. He almost had me there," Rowen said to the eagle and looked at the rapidly falling wreck. "I wish I knew what the deal is with these new enemies. I can't believe he managed to keep up. He even out-flew me at one point. Well, c'mon, let's head back down and see how the others are doing. I'm sure they're having as hard a time killing these things, and that was just one." Razor Wing cawed in agreement and the two dove back towards the distant streets. As they approached the rooftops, Rowen spotted a friendly figure. "Whoa!!" he dove down and Razor Wing banked sharply as the body of another demonic construct flew past. "Hey, watch where you throw those things! They're a lot heavier than they look!"

"I don't feel a difference," Kento shrugged as he slammed a construct in the stomach with his bo and flipped it off the rooftop. Rowen pelted it with arrows to make sure it died before hitting the ground. He turned and started to cry out in warning as a construct leapt at Kento from behind. Kento spotted this and managed to react in time. He ducked down so the construct sailed overhead then caught it with his shoulder and tossed it into the air. Razor Wing caught it and gave it the North American Strata facial treatment before letting it fall dead towards the street. More constructs arrived to face the Ronin Warrior.

"Well, you seem more than capable of handling these things on your own." Rowen commented.

"Eh, I wouldn't mind the company, but you'd probably be better off helping the others. Fighting one of these is like fighting six regular soldiers," Kento remarked as he fended off blows with his bo before returning them.

"And not everyone's as strong and hardy as the great Kento of Hardrock, hmm?" Kento smirked and chuckled. Rowen shook his head and drifted away from the rooftop. "Allright then, catch ya later," he waved and descended.

A mother and her young daughter fled down the wrecked street screaming in terror at the monstrous winged thing that flew after them. The little girl tripped over a tangle of metal pipes and her mother whirled around to try and scoop her up, but recoiled in terror as the winged thing landed and stepped towards the fallen child. It reached out with its curved talons towards the whimpering child. Then something miraculous happened. Two red hot blades sliced through the metallic monster, cutting its arms off from the shoulder down, then the blades sliced through the chest and head. The monster collapsed in pieces, and the girl dared look up and saw not another monster, but a young knight in magnificent red and silver armor.

"Get out of here! This area's no place for civilians!!" the young man barked. The mother hurriedly scooped up her child and the two took off running away from the battle zone. "What is it with people? This street was supposed to be evacuated an hour ago!" Ryo complained.

"Eh, you know civilians, they think they can stick things out," Cale commented.

Ryo snorted in disgust. "Oh they'll get stuck allright, like pigs," he sneered and helped Cale take down a pack of attacking constructs.

"Where did these things come from anyway? I thought you guys said Dygra was the last Dynasty lieutenant!" Sage shouted above the din of battle.

"Last lieutenant, not last servant," Sehkmet calmly corrected. "With Dygra gone, it only makes sense there'd be lesser minions aspiring to fill the void and become lords themselves."

"So you're saying these are renegades from the Nether Realm?"

"That's impossible. Kayura took part in a ritual to seal the Nether Realm. No one goes in or comes out. Lord Mabu agreed that the surviving residents be granted autonomy. He was the most peaceable of the nobles-"

"Or as Talpa'd say: a spineless coward," Cale interjected.

"So we felt comfortable leaving the Nether Realm under his rule. Even if capable, he wouldn't dare launch an attack on the mortal realm," Sehkmet explained and parried a construct's attack before spraying acid in its face.

"Which had nothing to do with us threatening to kick his ass if he tried," Cale added.

"So wait, you're saying these are from some _*other*_ realm?" Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. Just as there are other worlds, like the Thurukian system, there exist other planes where beings exist. Talpa's power was such he could travel with ease between realms, and conquered all he visited. I'll bet anything these things are from such a realm."

"If he had all these other realms as part of his empire, why the hell was he so obsessed with taking over Earth?"

"Because this realm is a waypoint!" The three of them looked up as Anubis sprang high into the air, lashing his chain with such force, it sliced through the torsos of any pursuing constructs. "The crossroads of creation. From here extend paths to all other worlds and dimensions," Anubis explained as he displayed his newfound vitality, felling multiple constructs with ease whereas other Ronin had trouble with just one.

"Gyaaah!!" Tanya squeaked and stepped back when a construct attacked with startling speed. The Lady Ronin pulled out both chakaram halves and prepared to join them, but then the construct lashed out with one foot, and in a surprising move, tripped Tanya, causing her to fall on her back. Tanya "oofed" and sat up only to see the construct looming over her, axe raised to split her skull in half. "Two can play that game!" Tanya shrieked and struck with both feet, striking both of the construct's knees. Instead of falling back, however, it started to collapse on top of her. Tanya closed her eyes and held up both chakaram halves. She felt something bear down on her, pushing her onto her back again, and the creaking of metal, then after that quiet. She opened one eye a crack and looked up to see both blades lodged firmly in the construct's grotesque face. Tanya slowly began to push the body to the side enough to slide out from under it.

"These are a lot tougher than your average tin cans," she muttered. While she gazed down at the dead construct, another sprang up from behind silently. It nearly brought its blade down on Tanya's shoulders, but six blades sliced it in half. Tanya turned around when she heard the noise and saw Dais with his weapon in one hand.

"Well so are we," he stated. "These gargoyle soldiers aren't unbeatable."

"'Gargoyle Soldiers' eh? Well they're certainly ugly enough to be called that," Tanya snorted.

"BAAA!" Boulderdash bleated and bashed a Gargoyle Soldier in the face twice before it went down and didn't get back up. Iguadalupen bounced along the street like a wayward saw blade and reduced soldiers to parts. Lyor didn't have Jaguaradina's company at present, but still managed to prove he was the bigger beast by bringing soldiers down with the ease of felling an antelope. Razor Wing made a show of diving with incredible speed, so fast he plunged through the chests of attacking soldiers, wheeling up for additional dives.

Kento hadn't moved from his spot on the rooftop, where soldiers still swarmed him from all sides, as if his tenacity annoyed them so much, they relentlessly tried to bring him down. He glanced to the side when he saw a tall spiraling column of blazing white light that started to take the shape of a long sinuous neck with a horned head and long, powerful arms. "Uh oh, guess Ryo's calling in the big guns. Whoa! Hey, where do you go off taking a cheap shot like that?" Kento caught a Gargoyle Soldier by the collar and hefted it up above him, knocking its companions away with its flailing wings and talons. "RrrrrrRRRAAAGH!" Kento flung the soldier almost clear across the street towards another building. "Hah! Take that!"

Kento had underestimated the result of the heavy Gargoyle Soldier's body striking the distant wall. Instead of breaking into parts, the Gargoyle Soldier plowed through the corner. Cracks spread from the initial hole, and soon a huge slice of the building peeled away and slid towards the street. "Oh *_that's_* not good," he muttered and quickly scanned the street to see if anything was in harm's way of the collapsing structure. Kento gasped in horror when he saw Cye on the sidewalk. "Oh no! CYE! CYE!! Ugh, get off of me!" Kento grunted when a soldier leapt onto his back. "CYE!!" Kento kept screaming as he shrugged off the soldier, but his voice wasn't carrying far enough over the sounds of battle. "SAGE! ROWEN! ANYBODY! YOU GOTTA WARN CYE!" Kento shrieked desperately.

Sage heard his friend's cry and looked down the street and saw Cye battling several soldiers, completely oblivious to the debris collapsing above him. "CYE! Get out of there, now!"

"Bloody damn demons! Why don't you go back to your own realm and leave ours alone!" Cye snarled and stabbed soldiers in the chest, cutting through the inch-thick armor. He paused and looked over his shoulder when he heard his name being called. Sage was yelling at him and waving his arm to the side. Cye looked up when he noticed a shadow falling over him and gasped, alarmed to see tons of concrete raining down above him.

"CYE! What are you waiting for, get out of there, now!" Ryo yelled, expecting Cye to teleport, but the Ronin Warrior merely stood there staring.

*_I can't move! I'm trying to, but I can't!*_ Cye's legs seemed to have turned to stone, and his mind to jelly. He heard Ryo and Rowen shouting, but it was too late. The debris fell all around him, entombing him in darkness.

* * *

"Uhnn…ow…wow, what a headache…" Cye's eyes fluttered open, only to close again as dust fell onto his face. He grunted in protest and tried to shake his head or sneeze some of the dust away. He managed to worm his right hand out from under concrete slabs and rubbed his face and eyelids before opening his eyes again. It took a few seconds to adjust to the dark. "Ahhh!" Cye yelped when he found himself nose to muzzle with a Gargoyle Soldier. It took a few more seconds for him to realize the eyes weren't glowing. Cye let out his breath in a heavy sigh and pressed his palm against the soldier's chest plate. He used his left hand to start pushing away chunks of rubble from his side. Once he had enough room to move his arm freely, he braced both hands against the soldier's chest plate and shoved repeatedly until he felt the weight above him start to shift and give way. He brought his knees up and pushed harder. Light filtered in from a newly formed gap. Cye sat up in his hollow and moved his right shoulder to the side and shoved the body away, exposing a large enough opening for him to crawl out of.

He took a minute to rest after he hauled himself to the top of the pile of rubble before standing up shakily to survey the area. "Whoa!! Jeez, the battle must've gotten out of hand after I went down. Wonder where they ended up…" Cye glanced to the sky and blinked, surprised to see it a pale greenish color. "…well that's weird. Must be too much dust in the eyes, yeah, that's it… Hmm…a better vantage point might help. Hyah!!" Cye crouched and pounced, wall jumping towards a nearby roof. Once he landed, he slowly began to turn around.

"WHOA!!" Cye recoiled in shock at what he saw. The city lay in ruins for miles in either direction. The tall form of Raurgoth towered above surrounding buildings, but instead of gleaming white scale, the Inferno Dragon's body appeared to be made of stone. Raurgoth stood as if challenging something, with arms raised and wings outstretched. Deep, blackened holes riddled the right wing, and the left seemed to have fallen, or been broken off by some impact. A single large hole, several feet in diameter, marred the otherwise smooth chest.

Cye dared to look back down at the street, and he saw now what he didn't see at first when he emerged from his concrete tomb. Among the rubble were broken bits and chunks of stone that didn't come from the sidewalks or buildings. Boulderdash stood on his hind legs, head and neck curled, but both forelegs were broken off at the elbow. Iguadalupen had been broken into several segments. Only his head remained recognizable. Lyor appeared to be intact, but lay on his side, frozen mid-pounce. Jaguaradina also seemed unscarred and seemed to be looking behind her, teeth bared at some long gone threat. Razor Wing lay on one side, with one wing outstretched and the other shattered, as if he'd turned to stone high in the sky and plummeted to the street. Cye glanced at each of the stone Incarnations and a nervous thought pricked at his mind.

He turned around and held up his hand. "Great White Shark!" Light blue light spilled out of the ring and onto the rooftop. Cye looked relieved at first when Foam Reaver materialized in his personal body of water, but joy quickly turned to shock and dismay when Foam Reaver heaved himself into the air and let out a terrible sound, like a cry of pain. Sharks didn't make sounds like that, at least not living ones. Foam Reaver twitched a few more times midair before going rigid and falling onto the roof, cracking it slightly under the sudden weight. The body had turned to stone. "…not a good sign." Cye looked at the petrified Raurgoth. Whatever had happened to the Inferno Dragon affected the other Incarnations the same way, but they weren't dead, were they? The Incarnations were supposed to be spirit beasts, and spirits couldn't be killed…

"My God…what happened here?" Cye stood alone on the rooftop, deep in thought and sick with worry. He wasn't paying attention to the curious shrill sound approaching from some distance behind him. "Hmm?" Cye looked over his shoulder and squinted to get a better look at the object approaching at high speed. "Uh oh…Whoa!!" Cye sprang up and caught onto the front of the craft, letting it take him on a wild ride as it veered up. Cye clung onto the opaque canopy and stared at his reflection in the shiny blue glass. *_This doesn't look like any military jet I've seen…*_ "Um, excuse me, I was wondering if you could tell me what happened-WHOA!!" Cye clutched onto a protruding wing as the craft barrel rolled suddenly, apparently trying to shake him off. The metal mesh and black plate covering his hands found little purchase on the smooth metal, and despite scrabbling frantically, Cye slid off, falling away from the craft. As he entered freefall, the craft spun around on a dime and came towards him. "Definitely not military!"

The craft opened fire, trying to pepper Cye with a rain of white hot orbs. Cye blinked out of sight and reappeared on the top of the craft, just behind the canopy. "That does it, no more Mr. Nice Cye! You're going to give me answers!" Cye turned his weapon around and plunged it into the conduit holding the canopy in place. He wrenched the blades from side to side, slicing the panel loose, then grabbed a ragged edge with one hand and shoved it away. Cye reached down, expecting to grab a cloth uniform. His fingers brushed against smooth metal plate, not that different from the armor he wore, though considerably less bulky.

The metal covered head swiveled around at an impossible angle and craned back to look at him. Glowing white lenses stared at his face. Cye stared back in disbelief, not sure what to make of the thing sitting in the cockpit, or even what to call it. Before either of them could act, a sudden impact shattered the craft and sent Cye spinning into the air again. He righted himself and glimpsed three more craft coming to finish him off, identical to the first. He glanced at the city and focused on a roof top then vanished just as the craft opened fire. Cye paused a few moments to catch his breath. He'd learned weeks ago teleporting in rapid succession quickly drained the body, and he'd need to conserve strength to survive this ordeal.

The trio of craft closed in on him rapidly, and Cye glanced around for an exit. A fast moving blur close to the street caught his eye, and at first glance it looked like some sort of bullet train. Instead of teleporting to the top, he risked a jump, aiming to land on the lead car. He miscalculated the train's speed and ended landing several cars away, crashing into the top and tumbling several feet before coming to a stop, almost dangling off the edge. The pursuing craft seemed to have lost him, and Cye took the time to rise to one knee and assess his surroundings. His eyes widened when he saw the contents of the car infront of him. It had high walls and an open top, the wind battering the figures huddled within.

A gaunt, disheveled, thinly-clothed man looked up slowly. The wind whipped dirty hair away from his face and he blinked dry eyes in confusion. A woman beside him in similar physical condition leaned back slightly to get a better look at what caught the man's attention. Soon dozens of people were staring up at Cye with a mixture of bewilderment and sadness.

"Look…it's a Ronin Warrior!" "I thought they were all gone." "Please help us!" "I don't wanna be converted!!" "Save us!" Hands reached up, begging, pleading. All Cye could do was stare at them. Were they survivors? Refugees? Refugees of what? "Look out!"

A blast rocked the car Cye sat on and threw him off, sending him tumbling down an embankment and into a drain channel. He pushed himself to hands and knees and glanced up at the pack of tri-wings that arrowed towards him. *_I'm too noticeable in armor, and I can't really stand and fight, not here. I need answers first.*_ Cye backed up close to a large drain pipe and waited for one of the flyers to shoot. The blast struck bare concrete, and when the smoke cleared the Ronin Warrior was gone. The craft hovered in the air, seemingly confused. Further down the channel, several humanoid figures ran towards the pipe, metal-clad feet splashing through water.

Cye had entered the pipe wearing his armor. When he exited it into a large creek, he wore sub-armor. He almost paused, wanting to sit down and rest, but the sounds of metallic footsteps coming up the pipe meant his unknown assailants had decided to continue the hunt on foot. Cye took off running quickly at first. The creek turned into a small stream, water coming up to the middle of his thighs. Cye glanced up when he heard that familiar high pitched whine in the distance. He took a deep breath and dove underwater, pressing his body close to the graveled bottom and grabbing sunken rocks and weeds, crawling forward against the current.

Cye recoiled when a bright beam sliced into the water no more than a few inches away. Far above on the bank, armored shock troopers fired beam weapons at the shadowy form beneath the water's surface. Cye kept himself against the bottom, hoping he'd come across something to give him cover to transform again. He had a reputation for being able to hold his breath indefinitely, but even he needed air, and would soon if the shock troopers kept attacking.

*_What?!*_ Cye watched a large mass shoot past and recognized it as a large cluster of fish going the opposite way, with the current instead of against. Cye's eyes widened in horror when he saw beams cut into the school. Water boiled away from the impact area, and small scorched bodies drifted to the surface. *_They're sacrificing themselves to protect me….I won't forget this, my friends!*_ Cye thought and kept crawling upstream while the shock troopers blasted away at the school. Before they realized their mistake, Cye had moved some distance away and found a sunken boulder where the water colliding with it produced thick foam that could conceal him until the shock troopers had moved out of the area entirely. He pressed himself against it, digging his feet into the silt and gravel to keep the current from carrying him away.

*_A good periscope might help…unless…*_ Cye closed his eyes and seemed to stop breathing. It had seemed like ages since he used his innate ability, but despite that, miniature consciousnesses answered his query. He never could get clear images-fish eyes and memories were too small for that-but he did get impressions, of metallic figures searching relentlessly. They seemed to be moving away, as the impressions faded gradually. Cye emerged from his trance and broke through to the surface. He leaned against the boulder and waded towards the bank.

Cye keeled over abruptly, collapsing against the rough bank. He barely managed to sink his fingers into the soil and anchor himself against the current threatening to drag his body back into the creek. Fighting asphyxia, he somehow summoned the strength to dig his elbows into the soil and haul his upper body onto the grass and mud. Darkness filled his vision, followed by odd shifting speckles of varying hues. He had stayed down far longer than he'd thought, and the fatigue he'd suffered from the building collapse combined with his flight from the unknown soldiers had depleted him almost completely. As his eyes closed, he could only think about how Kento would tease him for sullying his reputation by passing out.

* * *

When consciousness returned to Cye, he was somewhat confused to feel a warm, soft surface against his cheek and neck instead of the wet slick of a river bank. He blinked a few times to let his eyes adjust to the dim light. Something half-obscured his vision and he tried reaching up to brush it off, pausing in surprise when he had to worm his arm out from under layers of blankets.

"Wait," a stern feminine voice said. "Don't move too quickly. You need more time to recover." More curious than cautious, Cye pushed himself up on one elbow and shrugged off the warm towel only to collapse onto his side again from an overwhelming wave of dizziness. "I tried to warn you…silly boy. Here, drink some of this. Sip it, don't gulp. It'll ease your rattled brains." This time Cye obeyed and waited till he felt a small cup being pressed into his outstretched hand and moved it slowly to his mouth. He recognized it as tea and mumbled thanks before attempting to drink. The hot liquid felt refreshing as it trickled down his throat drop by drop. The pain behind his eyes slowly ebbed away and he dared to open them again, hoping to see his surroundings and his mysterious host.

The walls, floor, and ceiling appeared to be made out of hard packed soil, and bits of roots poked into the room from here and there, so it was safe to assume he was underground. The chamber was fairly small, no bigger than a bedroom, but half as tall so he couldn't stand up to his full height. Fire crackled in a niche built into one wall with the smoke drifting up out of a narrow opening. Steam spewed out of a kettle hanging from a tripod over the fire, presumably the source of the invigorating tea. Cye scanned the walls and noticed darkened passages that seemed to lead to other similarly built chambers.

"I was out fetching water from the stream when I saw you. You looked in such a sorry state I couldn't come back here to get help, so I ended up dragging you myself, if you're wondering how you got here." Cye finally got a good look at his host as she lit small lanterns hanging from the thickest of the exposed roots, adding more light to the dim rom.

She looked middle aged at first glance, but as she lit more lanterns, shadows revealed deep stress lines in what should've been a smooth, cheerful face. Long silvery hair flowed down her back, with only a few strands of the original black remaining, giving it an almost lavender hue. She shook out the match she'd used and ground the smoking head into the dirt to extinguish it completely then turned to face him, studying him with her oddly familiar-colored brownish eyes.

"We don't have much, as you can imagine, but you are welcome to stay with us as long as you wish," she offered and smiled before scooting over towards a short table set up by the fireplace and began dicing up vegetables and what looked like small fish gathered from the same creek where Cye had collapsed. He paled, trying to restrain his revulsion at seeing his tiny saviors being prepared for stew by the well-meaning woman. Thankfully the woman didn't blend the two together, putting the fish into a separate pot and the vegetables in another. He glanced around the chamber again before choosing to speak for the first time since passing out.

"I don't know what to say…Thank you doesn't seem worthy enough," he commented.

"It's the weight, not the words, that matters." Something about this woman seemed familiar...

"Um…so…who else lives here with you?" Cye asked and sat up.

"My youngest, but she's asleep. You'll meet her another time."

"Ah…um…my name is-"

"Cye of the Torrent. Yes, I know who you are." Cye blinked in surprise. "I've heard about you and seen you, though you have never seen me. You don't have to know my name though. That isn't important now." The woman set the two pots over the fire, using an iron bar to keep them separate then sat back down and brushed her hands over her apron. "What is the last thing you remember before the fight that brought you here?" she asked and narrowed her eyes slightly.

"After the fight in the city-the first one-I woke up under a pile of rubble and found the city almost completely destroyed. I tried to look for the others, find out what went wrong, then some of those things… the sky ships, attacked. They just kept coming and coming, chasing me all the way out into the outskirts. I somehow ended up in the forest-"

"What do you mean by 'first' battle? It wasn't against the sentinels?"

"No. The Dynasty…at least that's what we assumed they were. They looked like demons but were made of metal armor, like Dynasty Soldiers except way tougher. I remember the others trying to warn me about the collapse…" Cye frowned and glanced to the side before looking at the woman again. "Where are the others? They wouldn't have let the city be destroyed like that."

"You really don't know, do you?" she asked. Cye frowned, annoyed by the cryptic tone.

"Know what? What happened to the other Ronin Warriors?"

"The battle you described, against the winged demons…that happened three days ago."

"THREE DAYS?!" Cye shot to his feet, forgetting how low the roof was, and banged his head against the hard-packed dirt. He clutched the top of his head and swore loudly, trying to brush loosened soil out of his bangs. "All of that-I've been out for three days?! How is that even possible! The others would have dug me out, they would never have let the city fall!"

"You will lower your voice, young Ronin. Righteous or rogue, you will not use that tone or those words in here while my girl sleeps," the woman stated levelly and glared at him. The anger in her eyes compelled Cye to sit, and meekness replaced frustration. The woman waited a few moments before taking another deep breath. "The others…never came for you, because the Enemy likely attacked right after your accident. And they could not stop what happened afterward. They were caught off-guard. Three days ago, there were ten Ronin Warriors. Now, only one remains alive. Cye…you are the last."

Cye couldn't believe his ears at first. He stared at her, that cold, sick feeling creeping into his gut again, the same one he felt after seeing the petrified Incarnations, after seeing Foam Reaver go rigid, only this time a hundred times multiplied. "….How? How could-How?" he stuttered.

"They struck without warning from the skies and rained death upon the city…Cale was the first one to go... I was there during the initial attack, the fight against those demons you talked about." The woman chuckled and shook her head. "Like a foolish, stubborn old woman, I lingered. Hiding in the shadows, cheering my-them on…" she ran her tongue over her dried lips and closed her eyes. "He died most horribly, I think. A streak-a beam of light came from above and…cut him through." The woman drew her hand across her midsection, from one hip to the other. "But he didn't die right away. Another beam came, then another, again and again, each one blasting away his body from the inside out….and I could still hear him screaming!" Tears ran down the wrinkles in her cheeks as she struggled with the memory. "Even after his body was gone…you could still hear him scream and scream…just for a few more seconds."

"Rowen was in the air and tried to retaliate. He saw them first, but before he could attack a bright light enveloped him, and he was gone. Not even ashes were left of him. Sehkmet, that silly, brave man….he went berserk after seeing Cale go, and he unleashed all his fury against the smaller craft, the air fighters, as they appeared. Sage joined him, just as overcome with grief after Rowen was killed, and it seemed as if the two of them would prevail… The last thing I saw before I fled the city was fire, like a tidal wave, sweeping in all directions from downtown… Sehkmet and Sage were incinerated on the edge…just a few seconds from escaping.

"That can't be true. Ryo wouldn't let things come to this! They had time! They had options! What about Raurgoth? What about Inferno, or the Thangiens? They would've answered a call for aid!" Cye sputtered. The woman threw him another quelling glare.

"You still don't understand! Four of them were cut down within minutes, you were lost and buried. Raurgoth tried to avenge the fallen, but the Enemy killed him with their weapons. The White Dragon is a living creature, unlike the others. When he passed, so did the other beasts, for they are bound to him. Only five Ronin remained-" Cye wanted to interject that five, including Tanya, was more than enough to summon Inferno, but the woman's gaze intensified. "The Enemy harried them relentlessly. Dais…poor foolish man…he thought he could use his power to buy them time to hide and form the White Armor. The Enemy saw him… they literally tore him to shreds." The woman gazed at Cye with sad eyes. "They had no time. They had no options."

Cye sat there, both horrified and entranced as the woman continued her grisly account. "Ryo and the others managed to escape and tried to organize a counterattack. By then the…invaders…I suppose they could be called aliens," she muttered absently before resuming. "They began erecting huge bases all throughout the area. Within the day, you could not look in any direction without seeing one. I can only assume the rest of the world has fallen by now, as not even the surviving Ronin could stop them."

"What happened…to the others?" Cye whispered. The woman shuffled over to the fireplace to check the progress of her meal and stirred both pots before sitting back down. She toyed with the corners of her apron then spread it over her lap.

"The…remaining four…attempted a direct assault on the Enemy's capital, which they chose to build outside the city. Kento and Tanya remained outside. They did everything in their ability to keep the Enemy distracted. I don't know how Kento died…I never saw him again after that battle…and Tanya…" Cye frowned when he noticed how the woman's face went rigid after mentioning the Lady Ronin's name. "fell to an insidious trap…impaled her from below.

"Ryo and Anubis tried to attack the core. I heard Ryo was captured…" Again she seemed to choke up, whereas she'd been so calm earlier when describing the others' deaths. "They tortured him…tore off his armor piece by piece…he would not talk, and they killed him…placed his body outside as a warning against those who would oppose.

"Anubis suicided, but not in a cowardly fashion. His last act was to unleash all his power in a desperate attempt to destroy the core…he succeeded in destroying a large portion of the base…but the core prevailed. I heard he said, before the end, that 'the fates had returned him from death many times, and it was his turn to return the favor'. It is tragic his sacrifice was for naught…" The woman turned back to her stew and began setting out dishes and bowls.

"That's it? That's all? It couldn't have ended like that! What about the Thangiens! They're oath bound to protect Earth; it's their ancestral world! They would've come in force to fight!"

"The Thangiens," the woman said the name with contempt. "Oh they came, in all their fury, and all their glory…" The woman stood up and paced along the wall towards some shelves. She turned to Cye. "Where were the Thangiens when the city was all but leveled? Where were the Thangiens when the people were rounded up like cattle and sent to Heaven knows where? Where were the Thangiens when the Enemy swept over the world like a plague?" Her voice rose with each sentence, startling Cye with her rage. "Where were the Thangiens when my son and daughter were torn apa-!" The woman's bellow ceased abruptly as she spun around to face the wall and clamped her hands over her mouth, quaking with grief. She took a step towards the shelves and reached out with one hand, placing her fingers upon two objects.

Cye had to lean to the side to get a decent view, as the woman obscured the shelf with her thin body, but he saw just enough to make out a vaguely recognizable shard of golden metal that branched out into two short crests and a broken black emblem with a symbol made of several S-shaped streaks surrounding a red eye. Before Cye could ponder what the objects were and where they came from, the woman turned back to him and composed herself, wiping away tears.

"Thanged has fallen. The lavender-haired one came with many riders, and at first it seemed they would indeed avenge the Ronin. But then the Enemy unleashed a terrible, terrible weapon that seemed to snuff out the very souls of their valiant steeds. The metal horses fell dead, one by one, and with them their riders, plummeting to their deaths. The Dynasty, no longer honor-bound to remain in their realm, used the great gate to flood into the planet. The Thangiens had already suffered devastating losses, and though they fought bravely and killed many, in the end, only numbers mattered, and they were overwhelmed. Not even their gods would save them."

The only sounds in the room after she finished speaking came from the crackling of the fire and the bubbling of the fish soup, which the woman hurried to attend and began ladling portions into the prepared bowls. "So now you know what transpired while you were gone. I've heard of colonies situated deep underground where the last of the free people live. I never saw fit to join one. I've lived well enough on my own here. If you choose, I will give you directions to the nearest one, or you are more than welcome to remain here with us-"

"I'm not staying." Cye stated suddenly. The woman glanced at him. "You said the core is located in the base outside the city? Destroy it, and they all fall?" The woman nodded, appearing confused by the odd question. "I'm leaving. First thing after I've rested up, I'm heading out. One way or another, I will destroy that core."

"You will destroy yourself! What makes you think you'd succeed as one where neither the Ronin nor Thangiens could with many?"

"Maybe they don't know I'm the last. Maybe they won't notice me till it's too late. I'd rather die in battle than live out the rest of my life huddling in a cave like a coward!" Cye noticed the look the woman gave him, but he didn't care if he came off sounding rude. Courtesy had been Sage's specialty, and he was dead. Cye relaxed and shook his head. "Like it or not, I'm still a Ronin Warrior, and I am duty bound to fight the enemy and avenge my friends."

The woman eyed him with a mixture of respect and pity. "Well…if your heart is that set on your quest…you can at least stay the night here and rest warmly. Put some food in your stomach," she gestured to the bowls of soup. Cye blushed and averted his gaze.

"I don't eat fish," he mumbled. The woman smiled merrily, the first time since before she began her tale, and held up a plate of vegetables.

"Meat is hard to come by these days, so you'll have to settle for these." Cye gratefully accepted the plate and ate heartily. "I don't know much about the Enemy's inner workings. There are many traps and sensors that only react to those not of their kind. Their primary base has a series of pipes that extend to the edge of the bay. One might be able to sneak in through there before drawing too much attention. Blue pipes mark places that require a great deal of power, likely places of importance. The core was located at the center, though it may have been relocated after Anubis' attack. There remain a great deal of sentinels and flyers about, but the core itself is not heavily guarded…as if they don't expect anyone to attack it again. They are that sure of their might…and that could very well prove their undoing."

* * *

Sky fighters flew by in a loose formation, idly surveying the area. They had their sensors on any threat from the air, not from the sea, and didn't notice the ripples moving towards the opening of a drain pipe. Black plate-covered hands reached up and grabbed the edge. A light blue and silver form hauled itself up into the rim and disappeared into the shadows.

Cye smirked when he noticed how relatively untouched the ocean was. His body had been replenished with the woman's generous meal, and his armor's power was at its peak so close to the bay and its birthplace. "Allright you metal monstrosities, time to wake up with a cold splash of saltwater!" Cye hefted his trident and readied himself to summon his ultimate attack, but as he harnessed Torrent's power, another word formed in his mind, as if augmenting his armor.

Humanoid figures, not as heavily armored as the sentinels, lugged canisters to and from the nexus of the pipes. The one standing closest to the hatch turned around when it heard a strange cry echoing from the distant darkness. "SAVAGE SUPERWAVE SMASHER!!" Before the drones had a chance to react, tens of millions of gallons of seawater surged out of the relatively small opening with enough force to tear apart their metallic bodies. Focused by the pipe, the deluge plowed through walls, conduits, and hapless drones and sentinels. Even though their bodies were designed to be relatively waterproof, that did not help when the flood struck with such force to rival any of their energy weapons. Water that came in contact with hot surfaces erupted into thick steam clouds that filled the air. Within seconds, the majority of the base was flooded. As the waters seemed to lose force and began receding, those remaining drones and sentinels that had not suffered the brunt of the blast congregated around the opening.

Wet-sounding metallic footsteps echoed from further down the pipe. Some sentinels raised energy rifles and aimed at the darkness. One of the drones raised a thick lens and light flooded into the pipe, just far enough to make out a humanoid figure approaching. The sentinels made humming, chirping sounds among themselves, sounding almost confused about the heavily armored being. Suddenly the figure vanished and reappeared right infront of them. The last thing they saw was the almost sadistic smirk on the face of the young man.

Plates, parts, and wires flew in all directions as Cye cut into the throng, performing moves he never would have used before. These things weren't human, and all he had left was vengeance and hate for those who slaughtered his friends. He screamed as he drove his trident into the chest of a sentinel, slamming it onto the floor and twisting the weapon in his hand like winding a fork through noodles. He felt satisfied as the constructs writhed and twitched as his weapon tore out critical wires and nodes. One drone headed to a panel on a wall and reached as if to press something. Cye spotted it and lunged, bashing it across the face with the blunt end of his trident then sweeping up and chopping off its right arm. The drone made a digital sounding whine, as if pleading, but Cye was devoid of any sympathy.

"Don't like it much when *_you're_* the one caught off guard? It's not as fun when *_you're_* the one being sliced in two, is it?!!" he howled and cut down the last fleeing sentinel by stabbing it in the back. He took a few moments to catch his breath and survey the room. He noticed blue pipes along the wall, just as the woman described to him. Pulsing light led away from the facility, and Cye followed it into a large corridor. He happened upon another unfortunate group coming to investigate the source of the flood. He left them in pieces and continued walking, not noticing the bright red liquid dribbling out from severed limbs and torsos.

Thick fog hung in the air, making things difficult for the drones working to clean conduits and systems damaged by water. One of them looked up when it heard metallic footsteps. Fog swirled away in the wake of the person walking towards them. The drone made a frantic sounding chirp and a quartet of sentinels rushed over and fired with their energy rifles.

Cye wasn't the least bit worried. He could easily avoid each blast, and he had a laser of his own. One by one the sentinels fell back, their skulls pierced with high pressure water blasts. The drones met similar fates, and Cye kicked aside their corpses as he continued on his way. The pipes led him to a large chamber with walls covered in screens and panels. Some sort of control center. Cye raised his trident and prepared to do some redecorating.

"Cye? Is that you?" Cye froze when he heard his name called and turned around.

"I know that voice…" he spotted a humanoid figure standing by a corner, shadowed by a thick pillar. "Rowen? Rowen, is that really you?"

"I noticed your calling card and came to investigate," the voice chuckled. Cye recognized the shape as definitely being Rowen. He couldn't quite see him clearly, but for some reason the eyes seemed to shimmer, like those of an animal facing a bright light.

"She told me you were dead! That you'd been killed in the first assault!"

"Who?" the shadow that spoke with Rowen's voice asked, curious.

"Well, the woman, the old lady in the forest. The flyers chased me out of town and I managed to lose them near a river, but I passed out and she saved me and took me to her home. Well, I wouldn't call it a home. More of a cave if you ask me…"

"That so?" There was a long pause then the figure raised its wrist to its mouth. "Attention flight commanders. Target has been confirmed to be dwelling southwest of base. Target is underground, so search for heat signatures and locate. Leave no survivors."

Cye's jaw dropped in horror and he heard the whine of engines through the roof. "Rowen!! What are you doing! They'll kill her!" he screamed. The figure shifted to one side.

"That's kind of the idea," Rowen's voice said calmly. The figure took a step towards Cye, moving out of the shadows. "I really should thank you. The old woman has been a thorn in our sides for quite some time. She thinks we don't notice her, sneaking into the courtyard, blubbering and crying about those rotting carcasses we put on display. She even snuck away with a few pieces of armor. Every time we send scouts to follow she gives us the slip, but your clue about living underground in the forest narrows things down."

"Ryo and Tanya's bodies…she was their mother?" Cye whispered, now understanding the significance of the woman's words and why she kept the broken part of Ryo's helmet crest and Tanya's chest insignia. Now she would join her children because of his actions.

"The pathetic rabble calling itself a resistance force will be short one of its leaders, and soon the rest will follow until there is no opposition left." Rowen stepped fully into the light. Cye's horror intensified when he saw clearly what he couldn't see through shadow.

At first glance it looked as if the figure wore armor, but the fit was far too close. Gold colored plates covered the shoulders, elbows, knees, and collarbone. The trademark blue hair remained mostly intact, including the thick forelock hanging down between the eyes over the thin metal band that went across the forehead. The skin looked pale, almost white, and thin metal wires ran over the skin from the sides of the head to the cheek on either side, ending in three flat studs. Thin tubes seemed to go into the skin where the jugular veins should have been. The only flesh visible remained on the head, and from the neck down, gleaming bluish metal covered the body.

"My God…what have they done to you?" Cye breathed, feeling sickened.

"'They'? They didn't do anything to me. I chose this." Cye could only listen to the construct with Rowen's face as it continued talking. "The woman told you I was killed in the first attack, didn't she? Heh, I wasn't killed. I was *_saved_*. When I saw Cale go down, I suppose I wanted to do the human thing and avenge him, but then the light came, and next thing I knew I found myself aboard their vessel. They showed me their plans, and the truth behind everything." Rowen took a step towards Cye, who involuntarily took a step back. "Cye, you were right all along, from the very beginning! The fighting would never end for us. We'd always have to clean up the mistakes of mortals. Humans would never find peace unless-"

"Humanity itself was changed…" Cye muttered. Rowen snapped his fingers.

"Exactly! Cye, these guys, they aren't the villains everyone's been painting them out to be. More people have been saved than killed, and those that were killed fought because they wouldn't understand. They refuse to accept the truth and embrace a peaceful future."

"I can't believe that…I won't! The Rowen I know would never suggest such things!"

"The Rowen you know is dead!" Rowen snapped and narrowed his eyes, which Cye found he couldn't look at directly. They disturbed him too much, the way miniscule wires flashed and plates shifted where the iris should have been. "He died and was reborn, free from human frailties and faults. Cye…" Rowen's expression softened, appearing almost sympathetic. "I wasn't converted in time to save the others. They threw their lives away fighting blindly."

Before Cye left the woman's cave, he told her about the prisoners he'd seen on the train, and that one of them had said something about "being converted". She replied: "I do not know, and if I knew, I would not tell you, for it would be too terrible to describe let alone understand."

"But you're here. You're alive, and that means there's still hope. Think about it; a world without hunger, without avarice or fear." *_Without freedom…*_ "An end to wars and death, an end to the endless fighting. Think about it Cye. Together we can help build a world that no longer needs Ronin Warriors." Rowen extended a hand in a gesture of friendship, but all Cye could do was stare at it and the way the finger joints looked more like hinges than bone and flesh covered in metal. Rowen waited expectantly for an answer, while Cye remained silent.

"How can it," he muttered dully, breaking the silence.

"Hmm?"

"How can the world need Ronin Warriors…" Cye whispered then squeezed his eyes shut and looked Rowen in the eye, face twisted with rage. "You killed them! All of them! Every single one! Murderer…._TRAITOR_!!" Cye snarled and gripped his weapon tight. Rowen withdrew his hand and scowled, all trace of the camaraderie he displayed earlier vanishing from his face.

"Anubis said the exact same thing." Cye's eyes widened upon hearing that. "I don't know why I thought you'd be more reasonable than him. He was supposed to be the most reasonable out of all of us." Cye noticed a part of Rowen's right arm rise up, exposing a tube-shaped apparatus. "If I cannot convince you to embrace this greater truth, I have no choice but to destroy you," Rowen spoke with a robotic tone more befitting of the sentinels or drones.

"**DIIIIIEEEE**!!" Cye screamed at the top of his lungs and thrust. Rowen took aim and got off a single shot before the three sharp blades plunged through his torso and out his back. A mess of wires and broken circuit boards clung to the tips. Cye stood there with his arm extended, face twisted in rage. Rowen stared at him sadly.

"…Cye…uuugh…" Rowen let out a last rattling sigh before toppling backwards onto the floor. Cye lowered his weapon and glanced at the blades, not surprised to see no trace of flesh or blood staining the tips. The Rowen he knew had died long ago, and the construct he'd killed was but a hideous mockery of the noble Ronin of Air. Sorrow replaced anger, and Cye stared at the sparking mortal wound a few moments before deciding to continue with his mission.

Cye had barely taken a step when he registered a sharp, burning pain in his right side, just below the ribcage. He staggered to the side and braced his hand against a wall and looked down to examine the source of the pain. He spotted a small hole the size of a coin in the armor, and out of curiosity, poked one finger inside, surprised when it went in all the way to the knuckle. He looked over his shoulder and down his back and glimpsed another hole mirroring the first. The armor around the edge looked singed. "Oh… not good…" he commented. Even in death, Rowen's aim had been accurate, and while the laser blast likely cauterized the wound, it would be only a matter of time before it would bleed again and his body would feel the effects.

*_I don't have much time left…please, let me live long enough to finish this last battle…*_ Cye prayed to no god in particular. "My friends! …Rowen," Cye didn't notice the glistening trail running down Rowen's cheek. "I'll be joining you soon!" He couldn't save the woman, or himself, but he could finish what his friends had started.

* * *

The elderly woman knelt outside the covered entrance and plucked roots out, dusting them off gently before placing them in a basket. A traditional garden would've looked too conspicuous to overhead patrols, so she planted seed among other short plants, letting them grow naturally. She hummed to herself as she worked, but paused when she heard a different sort of hum and looked to the east. Silvery dots appeared in the sky and grew larger. Soon they took on the shapes of fighter craft. She grabbed the basket and crept into the opening, drawing the grassy cover over it, and peeked out through a crack. The craft weren't flying at a sustained altitude…they were making a beeline for the cave! The woman dropped the basket and ran inside, all the way to the back of the dwelling and into the small room reserved for sleeping. She knelt down beside the slumbering small form on the floor and scooped it up in her arms.

"I love you. I love you so, so much! No matter what happens, no matter what they do, we will always be together!" she whispered and patted the shiny black hair.

"Hello Momma…" the girl mumbled sleepily. The woman rocked back and forth on her heels, listening to the increasingly louder whine of the approaching sky fighters.

* * *

The fifty or so sentinels and shock troopers guarding the entry to the core were no match for Cye, driven as he was by desperation and determination. A single high pressure blast disabled the magnetic locks and the doors slid open. Cye staggered into the massive circular chamber and gazed up at the pillar of spiraling light extending out of an immense pit. He remembered what the woman said about Anubis suiciding and had an idea of how he did it. Anubis drew his power from rage and battle, but what greater fury than that of the seas? This would be Cye's last act, and he would not fail. He aimed his trident at the pit and closed his eyes.

_*"Even if you destroy me, others will take my place, for I am one of many,"*_ a deep voice rumbled from the direction of the pillar. Cye opened his eyes and looked up, surprised to see particles of bright light swirling within the pillar. They began to take on a familiar shape.

"Talpa?!"

_*"You call me by one name, but I am known by others. I am those that exist now, and those that have yet to come."*_ The particles shifted again, and formed the faint outline of a tall lizard-like creature. Then they took on the form of a handsome young man wearing strangely shaped armor. _*"Your fight encompasses not only the city, or this world, or even other worlds. You are both destined and cursed to take unto your shoulders the guardianship of the entire galaxy!"*_ The shape changed again, becoming that of a seductive woman wearing an elegant gown, then changing to that of a stocky cat-like creature with a flaring mane and long flanged tail.

_*"I will test and torture you. No matter how many incarnations you defeat or kill, I will always return. You are doomed to fight as long as you draw breath and exist as a Ronin Warrior. Until you die all together, the Ronin Warriors will always be expected to protect others. I will come at any time, take any form, and you will fight, but where one falls, another will rise. You are your own shackles which bind you into eternal servitude! Servitude to the weak!"*_

"I won't allow it! I will destroy you here and now! I will end this!" Cye screamed. All of his fury, love, hate, and sorrow he poured into his trident and hurled it into the pit. The particles assumed the shape of Talpa again as the floor cracked open. "I NOW KNOW WHY I AM A RONIN WARRIOR!!!"

_*"Deluded fool! I am immortal! I am omnipotent!"*_ The particles changed shape to the draconian creature. _*"I am timeless! I am-!"*_ The apparition's monologue was cut short by the quaking emanating from the pit. Cye's armor glowed with brilliant blue light. He didn't realize immediately that he was tapping into a power far greater, and much more ancient than the armors. The complex shuddered and cracks widened, extending deep into the crust.

Far away outside the city ruins, fighters sat parked on the scorched ground. Smoke drifted up from a smoldering crater, and surrounding plants and trees crackled with flame. The fabric of a bright blue swatch of cloth curled as fire ate away at it. Sentinels picked through the site, searching for any surviving life. One of them kicked aside a scorched black and gold symbol. They all looked up and to the east when they heard a loud crashing sound. If able to, their eyes would've widened at the sight of a gargantuan wall of water surging over the land.

All over the planet, the ground cracked and collapsed as every drop of water pounced up out of the seas and onto each continent, enveloping and crushing all of the bases built by the Enemy. Through the rage of one person, the world was destroyed, and soon, remade.

*"_PANTHALASSA!!!!"*_

* * *

When Cye opened his eyes, he was more surprised by the fact that he had eyes than his surroundings. "Where am I?" his voice echoed. "What is this place?" Cye looked about wildly, trying to make sense out of nonexistence. "Am I in Heaven? Wow…it looks just like everyone says it does…" he glanced about at thick walls of fluffy white clouds, expecting to see pearly gates. Then the clouds began to dissipate, and soon Cye found himself standing in what looked like a large room with a wooden floor and tall glass windows. Warm sunlight shone against a series of blank canvases propped upon easels scattered along the walls. Plants hung in pots suspended from the ceiling and wind chimes sang delicately.

"Am I dead? I am dead, right, I mean I have to be after doing all that…what *_did_* I do?" Cye said absently, trying to remember the word he spoke before everything faded.

"You are neither dead or alive," a feminine voice spoke, sounding much younger than that of the elderly woman. This voice, however, sounded quite familiar. Cye turned around, trying to find the speaker. "But caught between the waking and the dreaming."

"It can't be. It's impossible!" he gasped when he saw the person standing atop a set of shallow stairs. Her hair hung down over her shoulders and thin reddish bangs hung over gentle emerald eyes. She wore a simple white dress and a knit shawl draped over her shoulders and arms. Gone was the sorrow and fury she carried for centuries from the last time they met, and only timeless peace and kindness remained.

"You of all people should know that nothing is impossible," the young woman said and smiled. "It's been a long time, Cye of the Torrent. I am pleased that you-oh!" the woman gasped in surprise when Cye lunged and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, burying his face into the knitted wool of the shawl. The woman smiled radiantly and placed one hand on the back of his head and the other on his shoulder, returning the embrace.

"I am so glad to see you!" Cye breathed and choked back a sob.

"As am I. I have watched you since, and it gladdens me that you haven't lost your kind spirit. Though the world goes mad and the cold winds of war sweep over the land, the single spark of kindness prevails through all. I pray you never lose that spark. It lends you strength greater than your mortal flesh or even your armor," she said as they parted and stood facing each other.

"You said I'm not really dead. What is all of this then? Was all of that the future?"

"No, what I showed you was not what will happen. It is what *_could_* happen, if you and the other Ronin Warriors are not prepared for what awaits. As you've discovered through the past few months, there are threats other than the Dynasty you will face. It is an endless cycle, battle. At every point in history, where reigns one overwhelming force of evil, overwhelming good rises to defeat it. Where good reigns supreme, evil soon creeps in to undermine it." As she spoke, Cye saw a curious series of images in his mind. Two immense dragons, one like Raurgoth as if he wore the Inferno Armor, and the other black and wearing sinisterly crafted armor, circled each other, one rising above the other, ascending higher and higher. As they battled, Cye called to mind an ancient symbol. "And in pursuing battle, there is balance."

"Balance…through battle?" Cye raised an eyebrow and glanced to the side.

"I don't expect you to understand completely. It confused me too, at first," she chuckled. "Do not hold despair in your heart, however. As you are one of the Ten Ronin Warriors, so are the Ronin one of many factions." She turned around and gestured to one of the blank canvases. Thick lines of black ink crisscrossed over the white fabric, forming a strange design. "While I no longer see clearly the future, there are a few signs I will share with you.

"Warrior folk with righteous might. Dragonmen shall join the fight. Last, not least, he comes at night; a silver shadow seeking light." The image formed was that of three figures: a humanoid one wielding a sword, a tall reptilian creature baring its claws, and a dark-skinned saurian beast lunging forward. The three stood side by side, and the style was unlike anything he'd ever seen before with black triangular eyes. "You've encountered the first of these allies."

"The Thangiens…"

"Yes. I don't like them…" she muttered, sounding disappointed. She folded her arms over her chest and ran her fingers along the shawl. "They may have come from Earth, and they may claim they are human, but they are not human. All their ballads are written in blood, and they sing songs of steel. Their hearts are wild and dark…ooohhh!" She shuddered as if suddenly chilled and wrapped her arms around herself. Cye reached out and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. She glanced at him and smiled. "I'm glad they have not swayed you. But while I do not approve of their practices or beliefs, they are crucial to your coming battles. The second ally will appear soon, but you will need all three for the last great battle."

"End Tide…"

"When all good heroes will die. As I said, the cycle is endless, but with the passing of one generation, a newer, younger one shall take its place. Even if good can never reign forever, its reign can last for centuries. Your death will ensure such peace." Cye smiled at that notion, that his fighting *_would_* make a difference. "Know this. The enemy you faced, the invaders who presumed to shape humanity to their whims…is the enemy you will face in the Entide."

"So there is no way to change this future? There is no way to save-"

"How does a hero become a hero? Is he born righteous and good, or does he begin in depravity and cruelty before repenting and redemption?" Cye remembered Anubis. "How does a villain become a villain? Is he born always hateful and selfish, or does he begin in glory and honor before descending into madness and despair?" And Cye recalled the tragic vision of Rowen. "All roads are set in stone, and while the destination cannot be altered, the ways to get there are endless. And after the destination is reached, a new journey begins."

"I think I'm starting to understand…" Cye commented. The woman reached up and tousled his hair and Cye chuckled and smiled.

"Give it time." Her expression became stern and she clasped her hands over her stomach. "There are other prophecies I will give you, but their meanings I will leave to you to decipher." She turned to another blank canvas and lines appeared, forming a crude image of what had to be Kento, arms raised as if preparing to strike something. A fainter outline surrounded him, but of what, Cye couldn't tell immediately. "When Rock and Fire stand opposed, and Wind drifts on afar, the Spirit Springs and the Rune Waters will tame the Avatar."

Lines appeared on another canvas, forming the image of a winged figure reaching out to catch another. "With a crack and a groan went the ground to the hollow. As he fell his friend dove, but he bade him not follow. He vanished from sight to a darkened abode, and his departure inflicted much sorrow." The winged figure was that of Ryo wearing Dragon sub-armor, and the one falling had to be Sage, judging from the hairstyle.

"Foe's great malice flares aglow, into burning pools they go. Stronger, different, not as before. Ronin Armors are no more." Lines showing several figures falling into flame formed on a fourth canvas. She pointed at the fifth and last canvas.

"Three wars you'll fight before you go; wars of Rage, Wrath, and Woe. The things you've learned, do not forget; your duty is not over yet." Suzunagi looked at Cye again. "Remember what I said: Not all is what will be, but what could be. The destination remains the same, but the ways to get there are endless. I will return you now to the waking. Your friends are worried."

"I know…I can feel that now."

"Good." Suzunagi smiled again, with all the pride and gentleness of a mother looking upon her child. "Never lose your kindness, or your love."

"I won't forget. Not ever…" Cye closed his eyes and faded from sight. Soon the cozy room faded as well, but the figure of the tall slim woman remained. No one else remained to see the curious transformation which took place as red hair changed to a light silvery-gray, growing longer and reaching to the waist. The shawl and gown melted into a militaristic uniform with high white crests extending from the shoulders and yellow gauntlets and boots covering the hands and feet. A gray sash crossed the chest from the left shoulder to the right hip, and blue fabric of varying hues and shades covered thighs, arms, and torso.

_*"While I regret resorting to this sort of deception, but it is necessary if he is to be swayed,"*_ the woman spoke with an echoing voice. She looked up and opened her eyes, no longer soft green, but with jet black irises and potent steel-gray pupils. _*"There can be no hesitation when the Entide comes. **THEY MUST BE PREPARED**."*_ The last sentence came with a loud boom, reverberating throughout the dreamscape, and yet the woman did not move her lips. At last she departed, and the dreamscape ceased to be.

* * *

The mere act of opening his eyes seemed to take incredible effort, but at last Cye could see his true surroundings. He lay in what looked like a hospital bed, with his neck and back braced against thick white pillows and thin linen sheets covering his body from the chest down. He blinked several times to adjust to the light of the room before taking notice of the man standing at the foot of his bed. He looked a great deal older, middle aged roughly, with blonde hair combed neat and straight. He held a clipboard in one hand and thumbed through sheets of paper. He happened to glance to the side out the corner of his eye and saw Cye looking at him.

"Wow. Look who finally decided to wake up! How are you feeling?" the man asked.

"Tired…" Cye's gaze drifted down towards the man's name badge, which read Dr. Charles O'Connor. "You're Shannon's dad, aren't you?"

"In the flesh. Pleased to make your acquaintance, though you were too unresponsive at the start," Dr. O'Connor extended his hand and Cye shook it politely.

"How long was I out?"

"Three days." Cye nodded and sat up in bed slowly. "While there wasn't any sign of severe head trauma, you continued to remain unconscious, even though you were otherwise perfectly healthy. Judging from the high levels of brain activity, however, you appeared to be operating in a dream-like state. Whatever it was, it must've been intense. You gave us a real scare the other day when you flat lined."

"I died?!" Cye's eyes widened.

"Technically for only a second or so. Care to tell me what happened?" Dr. O'Connor set the clipboard back in its shelf and turned to Cye. Cye bit his lip and frowned.

"I need to speak to Ryo first…is he here?"

"Just outside." The doctor stepped over to the door and opened it up a crack. "He's awake," he called to the other room. Suddenly the door swung open and Charles almost lost his balance.

"CYE!! Dude, I am SO sorry I knocked that building down on you! I didn't mean to-"

"OUT! He asked for Ryo! You'll get your turn soon enough!" Charles barked and pressed his hand against Kento's face and shoved him back into the other room.

"How do you expect him to forgive you, now that you went and told him you're the one that did it?" a voice belonging to Sehkmet snickered.

"If he asked for Ryo it must be something important," Tanya commented. Cye could see into the other room a bit and spied the figures of Rowen and Anubis standing against the opposite wall. Rowen muttered something to Anubis, who nodded, and Cye caught a glimpse of a third person; Sage. Cye shuddered involuntarily, remembering the possible future and the version of his friend he'd encountered there. Rowen glanced in his direction and nodded in agreement to something Sage said. Charles stepped to the side to make way for Ryo and exited the room himself, closing the door behind him.

Ryo eyed Cye with a neutral expression and leaned against the door, arms folded over his chest. "Welcome back. Feeling better I assume?"

"As good as can be expected given all that I went through," Cye chuckled ruefully and drew his knees up and rest his arms across them.

"The doc said you were dreaming. About what?"

"The future. Or what might be the future. I saw the world taken over in less than a day, and you and all the others were dead." Cye didn't see fit to tell what happened to Rowen, fearing Ryo would find it more unsettling than he had. "Ryo…I saw *_her_*." Cye didn't need to elaborate on who he meant by "her", as Ryo nodded understandingly. "She showed me things…things I don't completely understand, but things that are real." Cye crossed his legs and set his hands on his knees, averting his gaze. "Entide will happen in our lifetime, and the Ronin Warriors will have to fight in it, but the battlefield isn't going to be Thanged."

Cye looked at Ryo worriedly. "It'll be Earth."


	2. The Medusa Plague Pt 1

A Sorrowful Mistake: The Medusa Plague Pt.1

By Mardrena

_*Toyama, Japan, 1649*_

Fishermen and their families labored away with the morning's catch, carefully extracting fish from their handcrafted nets and singing their praises to the gods for their bounty. The crisp sea air wafted in from the shore, and birds glided overhead, keeping keen eyes open for any scraps left behind. Most of the crews focused entirely on their tasks. A few, however, seemed distracted, or rather interested, in the quarrel occurring further down the beach.

"I'm not askin' ye ta take me clear across th' world! All I'm askin' is that ye go east. T'ain't such a difficult thing ta ask!" The fisherman being addressed frowned and shook his head in refusal. "Ye can take me as far west till ye hit land an dump me off in th' water an I'll swim ta shore! …Whaaat? There's nothin' forbidden about goin' west! What are ye gibberin' about? I *_know_* ye can understand me! What do I have ta pay fer ye ta give me passage o'er th' sea?"

The fisherman muttered to himself then glanced to either side before leaning towards the woman and placing a hand on her arm, speaking suggestively.

Children and elders squawked in surprise as the man went flying across the beach before crashing into a pile of bundled nets and rope. "Next fool ta try an git intimate wit me, I'll send ye flyin' so hard, th' shark's won't be able ta catch ye!" The observing fishermen eyed the flame-haired European nervously as she turned to look at them. "Is there anyone here wit th' stones ta take me west?!" Mardrena Lockehart demanded.

"Ye won't find any among this sorry lot, I can tell ye that." Mardrena turned around upon hearing the gruff male voice. "Superstitious maids, all of 'em."

"Cap'n Beckett! As I live an breathe, never thought I'd see ye again." Mardrena offered her hand, which the weathered Captain Beckett graciously accepted and kissed after removing his cap and holding it close to his chest. "The Dutch brought me East, but yuir th' only one who had th' spine to take me east of East."

"An it seems I'll be the one ta take ye back, as ye seem interested in. I can hardly believe 'tis been twenty years since I dropped ye off here. Twenty years…" The captain leaned back and took a long look at Mardrena. "An ye look like nary a year has passed."

"Ah, well, th' air here is clean, th' food good. They say 'the age of body reflects th' age of spirit' here. Th' land's treated me well."

"An did ye find what ye were seekin'?"

"Aye…ye could say that," Mardrena replied and glanced sideways in thought. Captain Beckett chuckled heartily and slapped Mardrena on the shoulder.

"In any case, the seas are fair, the wind is strong, an my men only need an hour or two ta restock on supplies 'fore we're on our way. Should give ye time ta gather yuir things."

"I've a few items of trade I've gathered in my travels," Mardrena began rummaging through her knapsack. Captain Beckett waggled a finger at her.

"I'll take not a coin from ye. The mere presence and pleasure of yuir company is payment enough for me. Gather yuir things. I'll wait fer ye."

"I have a mount, she'll need-"

"Room'nuff for her in th' cargo hold. I'll have some of th' crew fix it up for her."

* * *

While Beckett's men hauled sacks and rolled barrels into the ship's cargo hold, Mardrena busied herself with fastening saddle bags to her favored mount; a short, black-haired horse she'd dubbed Sakura. A crewman offered to take Sakura to the cargo hold and Mardrena handed him the reins. She started to turn to the side to check her knapsack.

"I must voice my concerns against this venture. Taking the Armor from this land will do little good and potentially much harm." Mardrena jumped in surprise and looked up to where Sakura had been standing just a moment before and saw a man in white and blue robes and a flattened hat covering his eyes. Clean white hair draped down his back and shoulders, and in his hand he held a staff with a gold ornamented head. Mardrena heaved a sigh of relief and shook her head.

"Ancient One, ye worry too much. All I've had to fight th' past month are petty brigands and rogues," she waved her hand dismissively. "I won't be gone forever. I just…" Mardrena shouldered her pack and sighed. "Tis been nearly twenty years…I left much behind when I came here…an at the time I thought I could do witout…but I find now I miss my homeland… 'Tis as much to ease my own soul as those who I left. I have ta do this," Mardrena looked at the monk apologetically. He merely tipped his hat further over his shadowed eyes.

"It is as you say. I will pray for you during your journey, but be cautious, Lady Ronin…" Mardrena glanced to either side to see if any sailors heard the title. "Agents of the Dark Emperor still roam the realm. Be alert for any attempts on your life. When you arrive at your destination, things may not be as you wish they were, but as others have forgiven you, so too must you know when to afford forgiveness. Should you find yourself walking the unclear path, learn to see without seeing." With that cryptic bit of wisdom, the robed man turned and walked away, the rings adorning the top of the staff chiming musically. Mardrena watched him leave and raised an eyebrow skeptically, then shook her head and sighed.

"That man'll always be a mystery ta me."

"Lass! We're ready ta set sail!" Captain Beckett called and waved. Mardrena headed to the ramp and boarded the ship, throwing a glance over her shoulder.

"Stay safe my home…hmm…home…odd I consider this land my home more'n th' place I was born," Mardrena mused and leaned against the rail as the ship pulled away from the shore.

* * *

"Gyaagh!" Mardrena sat up straight, nearly tossing the covers off upon hearing the loud crack of thunder, so loud it jolted her from deep sleep. She glanced about the dimly lit room. The captain had graciously lent her use of his bed at night while he stayed above decks to manage things. Judging from the way the wind howled outside and the creaking of the hull, sailing was far from smooth. Mardrena grabbed her tunic and leggings and dressed hurriedly. She walked to the door while buckling her belt and pulled it open to see what was occurring on deck.

"Keep steady lads!" Captain Beckett howled above the roaring winds and pounding waves. Water splashed onto the deck and the ship rocked back and forth. Beckett noticed Mardrena treading out onto the deck, already soaked from the rain and sea spray. "Lass! Git back below, t'ain't no place here fer a woman!"

"What's happened! We had full sail an clear skies jus' a few hours ago!"

"Tempest, that's what happened! Out o' nowhere th' wind picked up and skies clouded o'er. Not even th' lookout can see more'n an arm's length!" Beckett waved up at the crow's nest where only the silhouette of the lookout was visible from sporadic flashes of lighting. "We were makin' good time too! It seemed like the wind itself wanted ye ta get home quickly!"

"Indeed…" Mardrena muttered and hung back by the doorway, hoping the overhang would shelter her from the rain, which it did not. She looked up at the crow's nest again. In the few seconds she saw the lookout shading his eyes with his hand, straining to see into the distance, she saw something else high in the sky, shapes only she would recognize. The lookout apparently hadn't noticed them, engrossed as he was on the horizon, but the shapes descended from the sky slowly, black against black skies, black against lighting-lit clouds.

"Captain, git yuir men below decks now."

"Are ye daft, lass? An leave th' ship adrift?"

"Danger lies not in the sea but in the sky. Do as I say!" Mardrena walked onto the deck again, keeping her eyes to the sky. She glared at Captain Beckett when he didn't move. "DO IT!"

"Were ye another lass, I'd doubt ye…Below decks ya'll! Hurry! You too Kirk!" Beckett roared at the lookout, who seemed thoroughly confused but nonetheless grabbed his failing oil lamp and scrambled down the rope ladder down the mast. The sky exploded with sound and light again, so loud, the boy named Kirk stopped and looked skyward, and in that last second before the light started to fade, saw dozens of shadowy double-prow vessels descending from the clouds. He stood there, dumbstruck by the sight and situation.

"Din waste time lad! Below wit ye!" Mardrena grabbed him by the shoulders and shoved him towards the captain, who threw Mardrena a last worried glance before closing the door. Mardrena pulled her soaked hair over her shoulder and threw it across her back then looked skyward. "I know ye come fer me! Ye made a grave mistake fightin' me at sea!"

With her back to the main mast, Mardrena stood straight and spaced her feet apart. She clenched her fists then held her arms out to the side before swinging her left arm up and right arm downward, drawing a circle in the air with her index fingers. Then she pulled her hands inward towards her chest before moving them out again, this time raising the right arm high and left arm low. *_Eye of the Storm_*, she'd dubbed the gesture, even though it had no specific name, but it seemed appropriate for the command she would use to summon her power.

"ARMOR OF TYPHOON!! TAO KI-BOU!!" her voice rang clearly above the crack of thunder. The water in Mardrena's hair and clothes started to evaporate. Incoming raindrops changed course, swirling around her in a barely visible pillar. Lighting flashed again then faded, but now small glowing pink petals of light illuminated the deck in place of the rain-smothered lamps. The petals spiraled into a loose globe infront of Mardrena's chest. She gently moved her hands over it, drawing it close and cradling it before throwing it up into the air.

The petals clung to her body, and once touched by them, her clothes glowed bright pink and seemed to disintegrate, revealing thinly-hammered white metal covering her sides, thighs, upper arms, and hands. Thicker metal plates colored pink covered her chest, back, and stomach, as well as her lower arms, backs of her hands, shins, and feet, but the glowing pink petals continued their spiral. Those that remained clung to her shoulders, arms, chest, and legs. Pink-colored metal plate formed from the petals, with long crests jutting up over the elbows and wide, smooth plates curling up over the shoulders. Smooth plates decorated with sharp gold crests formed on the shins and knees. Lighting flashed once more, illuminating the black and gold insignias on the chest and waist, of nine S-shaped curves surrounding a red dot.

Mardrena's fiery hair flagged from the pillar of wind. She held out one hand and the few remaining petals of light settled into her palm, flashing and changing shape, creating a magnificently crafted helmet with a small V-shaped crest on the forehead and long curving crests extending from the sides. Mardrena pinched it by the rim and turned it around, lifting it to her head. Once she fitted the helmet over her hair, the pillar dissipated and the locks of hair dangling down her back from under the helmet became wet once more from the deluge.

By now the ships had reached the water, and long oars dipped in and out, guiding the vessels towards the lone ship. Lighting streaked the sky again, revealing the scores of armored figures crouching in each vessel, weapons drawn and rainwater dribbling from wicked sharp blades. Mardrena turned around, the plate armor creaking as she moved, and crouched. It only took a single spring for her to reach the top of the main mast and land in the rickety crow's nest.

"Th' seas may be Torrent's domain, but t'ain't th' sea which moves th' waves, 'tis th' wind!" Mardrena reached over her shoulders and behind her back. She never liked the placement of the scabbards. Personally she preferred to draw from the hip, but she had no say in the design of the armor, she only wore it. Raindrops touched the gleaming blades only briefly before being flung off as Mardrena drew the two long swords and held them out to the sides. She drew the pommels close, letting the crown-shaped ornaments on each sword lock into one another, joining the swords together. She crouched and leapt into the sky again, rising high above the rocking ship. As she ascended, she started twirling the swords at her side. Just when it seemed like her fingers would tangle from the action, she withdrew her hand, letting the swords spin on their own and holding her flattened palm only an inch away.

"TY-" she swung the wheel to the right. "PHOON!!" she swung the wheel to the left. "BLAST!!" Mardrena swung her arm down towards the mast, and the wheel followed her hand exactly. The sails billowed briefly before going limp in the void created as the unruly gale gave way to almost perfect calm. No rain fell on, in, or around the ship. The waters immediately surrounding the ship stilled almost instantly, yet as if separated by a wall, the waters beyond still churned from the storm. The waves began cresting, moving in a circle around the ship, rising higher and higher, almost rivaling the mast. Then the waves started to spiral outwards and the ship along with the smooth, calm, water rose as if on a pedestal. The shadowy vessels closing in from all sides started rocking violently as waves pounded against their hulls.

Desperately shot arrows halted in their course before veering sideways, gripped by the powerful winds and sent spiraling back towards their senders. The waves started pushing vessels towards each other until finally surges crashed hulls together like delicate pots. Broken wood and weapons joined the storm, with sharp blades ripping through the shadowy armored figures and planks driving through hulls. The winds beyond the lone ship reached almost unthinkable speeds, and what remained of the shadowy vessels all but disintegrated, leaving only fragments of wood floating among the waves, and anything else sank beneath the pounding sea.

The sword wheel stopped spinning and Mardrena gripped it in one hand before she fell towards the mast. She landed on the uttermost top with flawless grace before crouching down and grabbing the rim of the crow's nest. She swung herself down and landed on the now-dry deck. She looked skyward and smirked in satisfaction of seeing the rapidly thinning clouds and sparkling stars. She separated the swords and swung the blades up, neatly inserting the tips into the scabbards and sliding the blades in till they stopped at the spiral-shaped cross-guard. How she'd avoided impaling herself in the neck all those years, she'd never know…

The creaking of wood drew her attention and she turned around to see Captain Beckett holding up a lantern that sent yellow light glinting off the gold crests on Mardrena's armor. He blinked a few times in disbelief before smiling weakly.

"Well lass, looks like ye found more'n yuir destiny in th' East."

"We shouldn't have trouble anymore. I think they know better than ta try that again." Mardrena grinned and placed her hands on her hips, nodding towards the starlit horizon. The crewmembers crowded into the doorway stared at the armored woman with bewildered eyes, but two in particular looked at her with more than a sense of awe.

* * *

"Landfall! We've made it witout incident, jus like ye said! Shouldn't take more'n-" Captain Beckett almost lost his balance as Mardrena stalked out of the cabin quickly, fully dressed with her knapsack in one hand. "Wha-Where ye goin' lass? If ye need somethin' from town I can send my crew ta- Why are ye in such a hurry?" Captain Beckett frowned when he saw Mardrena walk over to the doors covering the cargo hold and grabbed the handle with one hand and lifted it with ease where it would have taken two men with both hands. She put her fingers to her mouth and whistled shrilly, summoning her steed from below. The horse clambered up the steps and onto the deck, startling some of the sailors who were either cleaning or securing goods. Mardrena grabbed the reins and began guiding Sakura to the newly extended ramp leading to the dock.

"Lass! Lass, what's wrong!" Mardrena ignored the captain's query and checked the saddle clasps quickly, almost furiously. She looked angry, too. "Murdina!" That got a reaction and she whirled around and glared at him fiercely. "We're barely halfway, and ye look like yuir about ta ride the rest! I promised I'd take ye all th' way."

"I'd rather ride. In fact, it'd be better fer th' both of us," Mardrena snarled and coiled the reins around her hand. She took a step towards the ramp.

"Murdina…" Beckett reached out and placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. Mardrena shuddered and paused, glancing at him harshly. "I din understand…"

"Carson…" Mardrena sighed and looked at the deck then back at him. "Yuir a good man, an I'll never forget yuir kindness, but th' same can't be said fer yuir crew. I'd look into getting some new men if I were ye." With that, she led Sakura down the ramp and onto the dock before mounting up and riding away quickly. Beckett scowled and headed for his quarters. He opened the door and almost recoiled upon seeing two of his crew lying on their stomachs on the floor, completely naked save for their own shirts binding their hands and legs together over their backs. They glanced up at him pleadingly, trying to speak through the gags plugging their mouths. Beckett scowled and shook his head before exiting the room, closing the door behind him. He walked back to the rail just in time to see the distant flare of Mardrena's red-orange hair amid the crowd of travelers and traders in the port.

"Yuir truly special lass, Murdina. Lifetimes'll pass ere we see another like ye."

* * *

The Lady Ronin continued the rest of her journey on horseback, pushing Sakura to the limit by day and resting by night. She had no sense of time, as her eyes remained only on the horizon. Residents of towns she passed through could only wonder what drove the fiery-haired woman. The lands she passed through may as well have been posts in a fence. After many days and nights they reached the western-most coast of France. It was simple enough to hire a fisherman to take her to the Isles. At least *_he_* wasn't superstitious about going west.

Sakura barely had the strength to get off the ship, but an unsympathetic Mardrena tugged at the reins and guided her towards the port town. She purchased room and stable for the night, allowing herself a more complete rest than she'd had previously. Sakura ate heartily of the grains provided for her; she'd need the strength for the trip north through the uplands.

She wasn't surprised that little had changed from twenty years ago, when she'd last walked the packed dirt roads. Buildings remained the same, give or take a few clumps of moss and growths of vine. She recognized very few faces, though they didn't seem to recognize her. She led Sakura past small farms. A trio of young men lounged off to the side of the road, chattering amongst themselves before pausing as Mardrena walked past.

"Ahoy there, lass! Ye in need of lodgings? Or company? Or both?" one smiled charmingly.

"I'm a bit old fer ye, lad," Mardrena replied gruffly without pausing a step. The boy blinked in confusion and frowned. She looked no older than twenty…

Mardrena passed a woman carrying a covered basket without so much as glancing at her. She didn't even pause when she heard the woman gasp in surprise and drop her basket. "Heaven help me, I must be drugged! Murdina! Murdina, is that really ye?"

"I stopped goin' by that name long ago, but I haven't forgotten th' voice of a friend! Hannah! Yuir th' first friendly face I've seen thus far!" Mardrena paused and turned around. The middle-aged woman picked up her basket and jogged towards the two travelers.

"I never heard much 'bout ye leavin', only that ye went East! My word! Ye look…pristine!"

"An ye…erm…look healthy," Mardrena managed.

"So what name *_do_* ye go by?"

"Mardrena. At least that's what they insisted on callin' me o'er there. Each land has its own. I suppose 'tis the same at its core. Hard ta believe I've been known as such fer so long. I was headed fer town, figured I'd hang around a spell. If th' inn still stands I'll likely board there."

"Oh I won't have it! My husband's away on business. I'm certain he wouldn't mind ye borrowin' his bed. Come Mur-eh, Mardrena…that does have a certain ring ta it… I'll have lodgings fer ye an yuir poor beastie far grander than that ol' shack. Ye plan on visitin' Andrew?" Hannah asked while she and Mardrena continued down the path. Mardrena frowned.

"All things in good time…"

"Well, 'tis a long walk. Ye must've experienced so much! Tell me!"

"Merely getting there was an adventure. I wish everyone could share th' gift of travel. Few ever see beyond th' seas, much less think of it…"

* * *

Mardrena hummed to herself while she shucked peas by the hearth while Hannah was away fetching water. A famished Sakura gorged herself on the feed normally reserved for the husband's beasts, but as Hannah herself said, he'd be none the wiser. Mardrena had all but forgotten the ominous warnings given her by the monk. She felt a simple tranquility she'd lacked, and all her worries were quite literally half a world away. The door creaked and Mardrena paused. "I've finished this bowl. If there's anything else I can help with, let me-"

It wasn't Hannah who stood in the shadows by the now closed door. Mardrena had forgotten about the worries in her homeland. She set the bowl on the table and calmly rose to her feet.

"I heard rumors…but I had to see for myself, and now I see you here, untouched by time," growled the man with brown hair with strands of gray showing, and cheeks creased with age in what had been a smooth, handsome face decades before.

"I see more'n time has touched ye…hello Andrew."

"Hello, Mardrena…or at least that's what I hear you call yourself now. Did you really think you could just stroll back without me noticing? There is unfinished business between us," Andrew snarled and took a step towards her. Mardrena stood her ground, unfazed.

"Our business concluded when I left fer th' east. I will not stoke old embers," she sniffed and turned around. Andrew stalked towards her and reached for her arm, grabbing it roughly.

"Don't turn your back on me-gurk!" Andrew gagged in surprise when he found himself staring down Mardrena's arm into her smoldering amber eyes. His boot toes dangled several inches off the stone floor, and he scrabbled futilely at the fingers firmly dug around his throat.

"Ye will never touch me like that again! No man will lay his hand upon me an not suffer fer it!" Mardrena growled with a fury that shamed Andrew's. She let Andrew hang in her grip, gurgling pitifully for several moments, before deigning to release him, letting him land on his rump on the stone floor. While Andrew staggered to his feet, anger gave way to disbelief.

"What happened to you over there?" Andrew demanded.

"Th' day I left, I was told by travelers to seek my destiny east, so I did, an I found it."

"Mardrena…I'm not angry that you left, I'm angry because I never knew why! Why? We loved each other! I gave you everything you could ever need or want! Was it so bad, with me?"

"Where should I begin? Ah, yes…ye belittled me, berated me, *_beat_* me," Mardrena counted off on her fingers. Andrew narrowed his blue-gray eyes.

"You were willful. You needed discipline, to be reminded of your role."

"I have a role now far greater than anything ye'll ever understand. I may have wanted many things, but a leash wasn't one of 'em." Mardrena turned her back on him and grabbed a knife and turnips to slice. "Ye din look any worse for wear, judgin' from yuir garb. I assume ye wasted no time marryin' off Jessie when she came of age." Andrew stiffened before smirking bitterly.

"However long *_that_* lasted." Mardrena paused mid-slice and turned to the side.

"What's *_that_* supposed ta mean?"

"You don't know? How silly of me, I forgot. You were too far east, too busy seeking your '*_destiny_*' to notice what happened to your own daughter." The smugness lasted only a moment before giving way to bitterness. "It will be six years now since I've put Jessie into the ground." Mardrena's eyes widened. "Fever claimed her. She never saw her twentieth year. Ironic, isn't it? She had nearly twenty years taken from her, and you've gained twenty." Mardrena turned back around and stared down at the half-sliced turnip as it started to blur. "I hope it was worth it, finding your destiny. I hope it was worth it, Mardrena, traveling so far and seeing so much, while our daughter withered away from sickness."

"I had nothing but love fer her…I had no love left fer ye," Mardrena croaked and looked at Andrew, tears dribbling down her cheeks. Andrew said nothing and walked out the door.

The knife and turnip tumbled onto the floor, bouncing away just before Mardrena sank to her knees and keeled over. Faint gasps rattled from the back of her mouth and she wrapped her arms around herself, digging her fingers into her sleeves. The gasps became shuddering sobs and Mardrena lifted a shaking hand to her mouth. "ahhhhh hahhh…AUUUUUGH! AAUUUUGH! AHHHH!" she wailed and curled her fingers.

"Mardrena! Mardrena! I just saw him leave! Did he harm ye? Mardrena!" Hannah rushed into the room and knelt beside her. "What happened? Did he touch ye? Did he-" Hannah paused when she saw the tears cascading from Mardrena's eyes, and the grief in her face that only came from a suffering mother. She placed her hands on Mardrena's shoulders, trying to console the inconsolable. "I wanted ta tell ye…but I…Forgive me. I'm sorry ye had ta find out this way," Hannah whispered and pulled Mardrena close.

_*"…things may not be as you wish they were…"*_She never should have come back. She should have heeded the old monk's warning. Otherwise she never would have found out that she came home only to find she'd outlive her daughter. Hannah whispered to her soothingly while Mardrena continued weeping. She had twenty years worth of tears to shed.

* * *

Activity at the inn seemed ordinary enough, as merchants and farmers shared news and strong beverages. Men laughed and sang badly-voiced ballads and enjoyed the company of the two serving girls who brought food and drink. A tall man sat at the counter alone. Brown hair streaked with gray hung around his neck, and gloomy blue-gray eyes stared into the orange-ish liquid sitting in his clayware cup. One of the serving girls giggled as a farmer scooped her into his lap, roaring with laughter. The lone man curled his lips in disgust at their joviality.

No one paused at the sound of the door creaking open or of heavy boots thumping against the floor. The amorous farmer went silent, however, upon seeing the long flame-orange hair. The wench keeping him company also went silent, though more from curiosity. Chatter slowly ceased as the new arrival approached the counter. A slim hand dropped two worn coins on the surface and scooped up the filled clayware cup deposited in their place.

Just as Andrew began to look up, wondering what inspired such silence, a large leather pouch landed barely a fingertip's width from knocking over his cup. He glanced at it then at the person who sat a couple seats away from him as she sipped her drink. "What's this?"

"All th' wealth I've garnered from th' East," Mardrena replied. Andrew raised an eyebrow and reached over, gently working the thong loose and reaching inside with two fingers. He grasped something with his fingertips and pulled out an uncut gem the size of a nut. He thumbed the gem back inside and tugged close the pouch, not wanting any prying or covetous eyes to see the contents. Andrew let the sack remain on the tabletop and stared at it warily. Mardrena glanced at him. "Oh come now, din tell me yuir declinin'? Cap'n Beckett refused, so did Hannah. I'm startin' ta think everyone's humble. If I recall correctly, I left ye fairly high 'n dry." Mardrena took a long swig of her drink and licked her lips. "That's one thing I do miss: a good stiff drink. I'd take this any day o'er that rice swill they have East…"

Andrew glanced from Mardrena to the pouch, humming in concern before slowly grabbing the pouch and placing it into his lap under his coat. "Thank you," he said gruffly.

"Din thank me. Tis only yuir just compensation." Mardrena gulped down the rest of her drink and set the cup on the counter. "I'll be leavin by th' end of th' week. Now our business tis truly-"

"They've found another one!" a hysteric lad ran into the inn waving his arms. The amorous farmer stood up so suddenly the serving girl tumbled out of his lap and onto the floor. Her angry protests went largely unnoticed as patrons rose from their seats and headed for the door. Andrew and Mardrena stood up, equally concerned about the hubbub. Andrew took a step for the door.

"You need not concern yourself, Mardrena. This is men's business," Andrew sniffed.

"Incase ye din notice, I'm not one ta heed convention," Mardrena shoved past him, exiting the inn ahead of him. The two arrived just in time to join the worried crowd milling about. Mardrena tried to look over heads to get a better view, but the taller Andrew saw the heavy oxcart as it lumbered into town. Townsfolk recoiled and backed away from the cart once they saw its occupant. Even Mardrena clamped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my word!" she breathed.

At first glance one might mistake it for a carved stone statue, only no statue carved by man would bear such detail as the look of raw terror on the figure's face. Mineralized arms were raised as if trying to protect against something, and the legs were twisted, as if the figure were just about to turn and flee. The cart driver removed his cap and held it over his chest.

"I warned him against goin' out at night…he din heed…"

"This is th' third one this month alone!" "What could this mean?" "T'ain't safe anymore!"

"Andrew…what do you know about this?" Mardrena whispered her former husband.

"Hrm…the region's been plagued by such incidents for the past few years." Mardrena's eyes widened upon hearing that but Andrew continued. "Thus far only fools who let themselves be caught out after sunset have fallen victim…of course in this town we have quite a bit of fools."

"Well then…seems my business t'ain't finished after all…"

"Tis punishment from th' Lord! He strikes down th' wicked an over-indulgent!"

"No! Tis th' Devil! He reaches up from Hell and drains th' life from th' innocent!"

"This is no work of the Lord or the Devil, but an ancient evil from an era before our own."

"That's quite a remark coming from a man of the cloth," Andrew commented to the man who approached the crowd from the side. Mardrena glanced at the thin light-haired man clothed in black with a neat clean white collar and a tiny silver cross hanging from a chain around his neck. The man shook his head and stepped over to the wagon and gazed down at the petrified victim.

"There are creatures and beings which existed long before the time of man. Some are benign and live outside our sight. Others…as you can see, live only to prey on the helpless."

"Father Douglas, what can be done ta stop this?" a nervous Hannah asked. The priest didn't answer immediately and stared intently at the stone figure.

"I will be your shield," he said simply and turned to leave. Townsfolk twittered amongst themselves in amazement. Mardrena watched the man, curious.

"There goes another fool…" Andrew snorted. He blinked when he saw Mardrena leaving.

"If that man's aimin' ta do what I think, he'll need help."

"What could you possibly do that'd be any better than his efforts?"

"I've learned a few things from th' East," Mardrena smirked and continued walking.

* * *

Sakura maintained a steady trot on the way to the location of the church. *_Me an Father Douglas'll have to have a nice chat if he hasn't gone off on his silly quest already. I wonder if th' Ancient had any hint of this…*_Mardrena didn't think it was anything out of the ordinary when a large shadow swept over the hills. She assumed it was a cloud, until something sharp dug into the ground no more than a few feet away. "Flamin' Hell! What-!" Sakura shrieked in terror and turned and galloped towards the trees, instinctively taking shelter. All Mardrena could do was hang on and futilely try to regain control. "Sakura! Whoa! Whoa!! Git ahold of yuirself!"

Sakura stopped in her tracks, but not from Mardrena's command. She flattened her ears, and Mardrena covered her own from the booming shriek echoing from the sky.

An immense black form circled the area and flapped huge dark wings with sharpened bony growths poking out of the corners of the membrane. A deafening bellow blasted up from the throat and out of a mouth lined with teeth the length of a man's arm. A tail almost as long as the entire body lashed furiously, slicing through the air with the axe-like growth at the tip.

"A dragon? I thought they were all gone! What would-" Mardrena glanced to the side when she thought she heard shouting. Two figures on horseback seemed to be chasing the dragon. One wore black gold and brown armor. The other wore maroon armor. "It can't be…"

"Draw its attention. I'll try to snare it!" Dais barked and veered away.

"Assuming it doesn't eat you!" Anubis taunted and swung his chain. "QUAKE WITH FEAR!!" Hundreds of chains arced up towards the dragon's legs. The immense beast wheeled out of the way and flapped its wings, each movement sending a gale through the area. "It's trying to escape again! Do something unless you want us chasing after it another twelve hours!"

"WEB OF DECEPTION!!" Thousands of gossamer fibers crossed the sky. The dragon plowed through some, but the others tangled themselves around its wings.

"QUAKE WITH FEAR!!" Once more black chains shot up, this time sweeping around the dragon's torso. Unable to keep aloft, the dragon sank towards the ground, collapsing along the hilltop. It thrashed its tail again, each strike of the axe-shaped tip ripping the ground open. More webbing and chains lashed the tail and limbs securely to the ground. The dragon wheezed and groaned. The two Dark Warlords rode over and dismounted off their shadowy steeds.

"Still yourself, beast. You will serve a far more glorious purpose. It will be better to serve our Dark Lord than be hunted as a trophy by mortal men," Dais said and stroked the dragon's face.

"Prepare it for transport! We've tarried long enough in this soggy hell!" Anubis ordered. Dynasty soldiers circled the dragon and raised long scepters tipped with black gems. Anubis glanced to the side and saw Dais staring at the forest. "What are you staring at?"

"I thought I saw something…" he muttered. Some distance away, Mardrena knelt on the ground behind a tree and kept one hand on Sakura's neck to calm her and the other over her mouth to quiet her. "Something I recognized…"

"Your missing eye perhaps? Come now. We've better things to do." Just then whatever sorcery the scepters unleashed enveloped soldier, Warlord, and dragon, and they vanished from sight. Only the scars from the dragon's tail remained to tell of the incident.

"What could they have wanted wit that thing? Hmm…I imagine I'll find out…eventually…" Mardrena mounted Sakura again, tugging at the reins and steering her away from the hill.

* * *

She dismounted when she arrived at the small stone chapel and wove the reins through Sakura's bridle, letting her run off to forage. She walked up the stone path and approached the door and reached out to push it open. Light filtered in through simple stained glass windows and shone from glass lanterns in the corners. Mardrena spotted the priest standing by a table.

"Hello maiden. What brings you here at this time of day?" Douglas asked cheerfully.

"I've come ta dissuade ya from whatever yuir plannin'. Ye can't fight this demon wit nothin' but stakes an holy water," Mardrena protested.

"I don't plan to," Douglas replied and set a cloth on the table and un-wrapped it, revealing several short, sharp knives. "We are taught to use what is given us, and ask for no more than we absolutely need. Others of my order may be content to go through the motions, wear the clothes and say the prayers, doing nothing more than indulging themselves with their position and the favor they garner. I am capable of much more as the protector of this area."

"Are ye capable of bein' a right ass?" Douglas glanced at her sharply but returned to his preparations. "Do ye even know what yuir up against?"

"Do you?" Mardrena blinked, surprised by the rebuttal. "Most members of the Church frown upon 'heretical readings', but they're mostly the narrow-minded ones. I can confirm that this 'demon' is a gorgon. The Lord created all things, of course, but to each thing there is a purpose, and a time, and a place. This creature has defied His will, and preyed upon men to extend its life beyond its time and place, and no longer serves His purpose."

"…Okay…so ye have some knowledge of antiquity…Yuir still no more prepared ta fight somethin' like that than a milkmaid. Listen…I've been East. I have…gifts, abilities, better n' yuir little trinkets! I'll be th' one ta fight. Tell me how ta kill it an I can end this."

"When was the last time you confessed?" Douglas asked calmly. Mardrena's jaw dropped.

"What kinda question is THAT?!"

"A year? Ten? Twenty?" Mardrena stiffened. "I've heard of you from the others. Hannah never stopped worrying, and Andrew…Andrew never stopped hating... We are taught to forgive our neighbors their sins, and He never intends for us to hold animosity for very long. Whatever transpired came before my time, so I don't know the entire story concerning you two. I can tell you're a woman who prefers solitude, but those who travel alone often carry the heaviest burdens. You should consider relieving those burdens sometime soon."

Mardrena narrowed her eyes and clenched her fists. She shuddered briefly then sneered. "Well ye should consider keepin' yuir nose outta-" The two of them jumped upon hearing a unearthly hiss from outside. A shadow crossed one of the windows and headed towards the door. Mardrena sprang over and slammed it shut and drove in both bolts. For extra measure, she grabbed one of the wooden pews and lifted it up-surprising Douglas-and placed it by the door. She stepped back as the door rattled slightly in its frame. "It's come for us…for ye I think. Tell me how ta stop it!" Mardrena demanded. Douglas picked up a metal plate and began polishing it.

"The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want-" he muttered.

"I din have time fer this!" Mardrena huffed in exasperation and turned to face the door. "ARMOR OF TYPHOON! TAO KI-ugh!" Something struck the back of her head and she collapsed to the floor unconscious. Douglas set the bent candlestick on the table and walked over to her and knelt down beside her.

"Forgive me, but I cannot allow harm to come to you," he whispered and walked back to the table to gather his tools. He looked at his reflection in the plate once before tucking it in his robes and strapping a belt with many loops around his waist. He slid each knife in carefully then walked towards the door. Mardrena moaned softly, but otherwise didn't move. Douglas grabbed the edge of the pew and with much effort dragged it away from the door, giving himself enough room to open it. He took out the plate and held it infront of his face and stepped outside, locking the door behind him, never taking his eyes off of his reflection.

"Ugh…Father…uhnn…" Mardrena slowly moved one arm and tried to push herself off the floor. The shadowy figure passed by a window again, hissing as it circled the chapel.

"He maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside still waters…"

"Father…ye bloody damn fool…" Mardrena slurred and rose to one knee, slumping to one side before steadying herself against a pew. The hissing rounded the corner of the chapel.

"He restoreth my soul," Father Douglas plucked one of the knifes from his belt. "And yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for thou art with me."

"Ssssssaaaaaaahhh…." He saw the reflection of a robed and hooded figure standing just a few feet behind him. It raised scaled hands with fingers tipped with brass claws.

"Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me… HEEYAAAGH!" Douglas spun around and hurled a knife at the robed form.

"KEEYAAAAAHHH!" The hideous sounding shriek was enough to wake Mardrena completely and she jumped to her feet.

"ARMOR OF TYPHOON! TAO KI-BOU!"

"Begone ancient terror!" Douglas reached for another knife, but brass claws swatted it out of his hand. Another angry swipe knocked the polished plate out of his grasp and before he could regain focus he found himself staring into eyes that glowed with a hellish red light.

"RAAAGH!!" The door shattered outward and Mardrena sprang out of the chapel in full armor. "No!! Oh no!" she cried when she saw the still form of Father Douglas. One arm was raised and hand clenched in a fist, the other was frozen over the belt. The delicate cross pendant, still silver, hung from the petrified fingers. His face, however, was fixed with an expression of determination, not fear. "No…" Mardrena staggered towards the statue.

"Ssssssssaaahhhch aaaaa piiiity…" came the hissing voice. Mardrena promptly raised her arm to shield her eyes and drew a Windblade dagger.

"SHOW YUIRSELF DEMON! I'LL MAKE YE PAY FER THIS BLASPHEMY!!" Mardrena screamed and slashed wildly. She heard more raspy laughter coming from behind and stabbed, but only heard the tear of fabric.

"You caaaannot fight whaaat you caaannot ssssee…"

"I'll see my blade through yuir black heart!!" Mardrena fired all twelve mini-blades, but even they could not strike what she could not see, and they merely swirled around her, forming a loose shield. Mardrena heard a rustling of leaves, as if the gorgon had leapt away.

"Mardrena!!" She recognized the voice and dared a glimpse out from under her arm enough to see brown horse fur pass by. She felt a hand grab her arm and let herself be lifted up off the ground. "Hold on tight," Andrew shouted as Mardrena settled into a seat behind him. "Get us out of here Rashar!" Andrew dug his heels into the stallion's side and Rashar galloped away.

"Keep yuir eyes closed! Or it'll get us too!" Mardrena warned. Andrew nodded and let the horse do the riding, while Mardrena wept for the unfortunate Father Douglas.

* * *

"For some reason she came here, all in hysterics. I sensed you were in trouble, and I remember what the priest said, so the chapel seemed the most likely place," Andrew said while he fed and groomed Rashar. In the stall just next to him stood a sweating and badly shaken Sakura, too exhausted to even sniff at the fodder laid out for her. "I suspected your strength came from magic, but I'm pleased to see it's not dark."

"No…but it might as well be after what I did," Mardrena muttered. Her helmet rest on a peg and she twisted the grip of one sword, idly poking the tip into the packed dirt floor.

"Come now. You can't possibly hold yourself at fault. The man was a fool, chasing demons with a cross. If he had sense he would've stayed there and kept the door locked."

"Damnit! I'm th' Lady Ronin, Warrior of th' Wind! I'm supposed ta protect people, and I let an innocent suffer fer my mistake…" Mardrena drove her sword into the ground and clenched her fists. Andrew didn't offer any words of comfort. "He hurt it…I heard him hurt it. It can be killed, an it will be killed. I'll track it ta wherever pit it hides an put an end ta this plague!"

"If you insist on going out alone again, I'll have no part in it…but I…will do one thing." Andrew picked up Rashar's bridle and slipped it over the great horse's head then took the reins. "That old nag of yours looks ready to give out any moment. Take Rashar. He's bred from finest stock and strong, young blood."

"This 'old nag' has carried me through more ventures than ye've had in yuir entire lifetime," Mardrena growled and took up her helmet and sword. "I won't leave her outta this."

"Then let her rest, at least. Both of you. Recover your strength-"

"Every minute I rest here is another that beast has ta escape! I won't rest till that gorgon is myth, like it should be! I owe it ta Douglas!" With that, Mardrena dragged Sakura out of the stall and outside. Before Andrew could protest, she was off.

* * *

All Mardrena could think about was vengeance as she rode Sakura towards the chapel. _*Men can pardon each other, but I will not this beast go unpunished!*_

Without warning, Sakura slowed down and staggered to a stop. "What's wrong wit ya? Th' Chapel's not far. Git movin' ye silly-whoa!" Mardrena slid out of the saddle just before Sakura collapsed to her knees and rolled over, laying her neck on the ground. "Oh no…no! Please don't tell me-" Mardrena crawled over and knelt beside the old mare's head. Sakura was panting rapidly and foaming at the mouth. "Din do this ta me, Sakura. We've been together fer fifteen years…surely ye have more in ye n' that?" Mardrena purred and stroked her mane.

Sakura let out a labored groan and her eyes rolled about erratically. "Please stay wit me…fer one more ride…one more adventure…" Bloody mucus dribbled out of Sakura's nostrils. Not since the news of Jessie's death had Mardrena felt such grief. She slowly drew out a dagger and held it above Sakura with both hands. "Please din tell me I hafta do this…" Sakura let out a muffled whinny and swished her tail jerkily. Tears streamed down Mardrena's cheeks onto the horse's fur. "I'm so sorry. AAAGH!" Mardrena swung down with the dagger.

* * *

Whatever the gorgon's blood touched had turned to stone, be it leaves, twigs, or blades of grass. On bare soil a tiny circle of stone marked where blood had fallen. It was easy enough to follow this trail from the chapel to the mouth of a cave. Mardrena drew both swords and joined them, but held the blades in one hand while she shielded her eyes with her arm. "DEMON! I've come fer ya! Face Judgment from th' Lady Ronin!"

"Judgment? For whaaat? " the raspy voice echoed from the deeper recesses of the cave.

"Ye stole th' lives of many innocent folk, many who would live an breathe were not fer ye!"

"I taaaake only what I need… I feed to staaaaay aaaalive…"

"Ta everything there is a purpose, an a time, an a place, an ye've more'n outlived yuirs! I am Mardrena, Lady Ronin of Typhoon, Warrior of th' Wind! Tis my duty ta purge ye!"

"Heh heh heh…you caaaaannot sssstop me with wind."

"Wind wears throughout time," Mardrena started spinning her swords with her fingers, never taking her arm away from her face. She heard faint footsteps, and saw a glimpse of taloned feet shuffling along the ground slowly. "Tis th' Eternal Voice of th' World. It effaces the most ancient of monuments an shapes th' tallest peaks. Tis th' gentlest breeze or th' fiercest gale. Wind erodes rock, of the like found in yuir cave!" Mardrena aimed the sword wheel at the approaching gorgon. "TYPHOON BLAST!!!" The gorgon didn't have the breath to snarl as the winds sent it flying into the dark pit. Tiny fractures in and around the opening became deep cracks as the powerful winds scrubbed dust against every surface, weakening the ceiling and opening. Mardrena stopped the sword wheel and lowered her arm in time to watch the cave collapse into itself, burying the demon under immense stone chunks.

She sheathed her swords and stood there, staring at the wreck. "Tis done…" she whispered and began the long trek back to town.

* * *

"Just a bit further…heave! Uhnn!"

"Quit wheezin' like an old-oh wait. Hehe…There…almost got it…Good!" Mardrena crowed as she and Andrew set the last statue on the floor of the abandoned chapel.

"Hard to believe we did together what it would have taken six strong men to do. I see you've become quite the mythical figure yourself," Andrew panted.

"Perhaps…I was kinda hopin' killin' th' beast woulda ended th' curse…seems I was mistaken," Mardrena muttered sadly and stroked the head of the statue of Father Douglas.

"There may yet be hope. You yourself have proven that. As long as my line endures, I will protect them, all of them," Andrew looked over the room full of statues. "Until a cure can be found. Whether it takes five or five hundred years, they will live again." Mardrena didn't say anything but smiled gratefully. Andrew wiped his brow with his sleeve and frowned. "Mardrena…I can't take back what I said and what I did, twenty years ago, but I've had twenty years to ponder, and it's taken me that long to admit fault."

"We were both at fault," Mardrena offered.

"In any case…It's taken me twenty years to learn to forgive you…I…I only hope, you can forgive me too," Andrew said and looked at her. Mardrena didn't answer immediately and stared at the statue of Father Douglas. Then she looked at Andrew.

"Yes…I do. I do fergive ya." She walked over to Andrew and, surprisingly enough, hugged him then kissed him lightly. "I must return ta th' East. Ye'll never see me again."

"Then you can at least accept one final gift from me: Rashar. He's yours, unless you'd rather walk all the way east. Seeing as how your valiant steed has departed this world, you'd need a new mount to carry you in your new adventures."

"Ye drive a hard bargain…but I'll accept. Ye know…ye almost look a few years younger now," Mardrena chuckled. Andrew smirked and the two exited the chapel.

"Farewell, Mardrena of the Typhoon. I wish you long life, and good hunting." Mardrena smiled and saddled up. Rashar immediately took off down the path. Mardrena looked over her shoulder and waved until Andrew passed out of sight for the last time.

* * *

She heard hoof beats against grassy soil. Something approached over the rise: a pink-armored woman astride a sleek brown horse. The stallion came to a stop and swished his tail. The armored woman looked her way and removed her helmet. Flame-orange hair fell onto her back.

"Th' fight t'ain't over yet! Tanya, get yuirself over here NOW!" the woman shouted.

* * *

"Ahhh!" Tanya Sanada gasped and sat up in bed suddenly, all but flinging the sheets off.


	3. The Medusa Plague Pt 2

One of Many: The Medusa Plague Pt. 2

By Mardrena

Tanya gripped the doorknob tight and held it so the bolt wouldn't slide. She heard voices coming from one of the rooms further down. Ryo was picking Cye's brain about his "vision", so he'd be occupied for a good hour or two. Sage was usually the early riser, as well as Kento; more motivated by his stomach than time. Tanya kept the doorknob still and slipped out of her room before shutting the door slowly, gently letting the bolt slide back with the softest of clicks.

She made her way to the second floor patio soundlessly then pulled her rose-colored orb out and leapt into the air. She landed in sub-armor on the lawn and glanced to either side. The two Blazes were napping contentedly. "Blaze!" Both of them looked up at her sleepily. "*_White_*blaze!" Blackblaze snorted and went back to his nap. Whiteblaze yawned and rose to all fours then padded over to where Tanya crouched on the ground. "Hey Whiteblaze, can you do me a big favor?" she whispered. Whiteblaze smiled and licked her cheek. "Hee hee, I knew I could count on you! Don't let Ryo know anything, okay? Here's what I have in mind…"

* * *

Mia hummed idly to herself as she walked out to her car and checked items in her book bag before opening the door and seating herself. She yelped when she heard a loud thump and the entire car wobbled. "What the-" Mia noticed something large and white pass by the door. "Whiteblaze! You naughty tiger, you know better than that! My insurance doesn't cover damage from 'oversized house cats'. Please don't do that again," she scolded. Whiteblaze sat down and swished his tail. Mia sighed and shook her head. "Silly cat," she muttered and closed the door then started the engine. Whiteblaze looked up at Tanya crouched on the top of the car. She flashed him a thumbs up and waved as Mia headed down the driveway. Whiteblaze watched her leave, not the least bit concerned or worried about the need for deception and secrecy.

* * *

"After we said our farewells I woke up in bed with the Doc checking up on me. That's it…" Cye said and looked up at Ryo.

"This prophetess must retain incredible power if she can touch Cye's consciousness from the Afterworld," Anubis remarked. Ryo nodded in agreement and hummed.

"'Warrior folk with righteous might' clearly refers to Thanged, and 'dragonmen' can only mean the Thunthen, but I thought they were enemies of the Thangiens." Rowen commented.

"They are, but King Torke told me Thunthen and Thanged would unite against a common enemy, which, I'm guessing, is the force you encountered," Ryo said and looked at Cye.

"They were incredibly powerful, and technologically advanced far beyond anything we've ever seen. They seemed obsessed with conquest, but completely mindless and without free individual will. They existed only to further the goals of their masters and bring those they enslaved into their ranks." As Cye recounted his experience, Rowen couldn't help but notice the way Anubis was stroking his chin and looking downward, having the appearance of deep thought and recollection. Before he could inquire, the door to the room opened.

"Aaaaaall right, here ya go! A nice little something to help get your strength back." Ryo smacked a hand against his forehead and Rowen blinked several times in surprise. Anubis raised an eyebrow and Cye's jaw dropped in shock. It wasn't the fact that Kento had brought up a heavily laden breakfast tray that had everyone so flabbergasted, it was the fact that he was wearing one of Mia's aprons, namely the pink one with frilly edges and a white daisy embroidered on the front. "Anything else I can get for you?" Kento asked cheerfully after setting the tray over Cye's legs and clapped his hands together.

"Kento, for gosh sakes! Take that *_thing_* off!!" Cye squawked. "How many more times do I have to explain this; it wasn't your fault! If I was supposed to avoid the collapse, I would have, but apparently I was meant to get knocked out in order to have my vision. You don't have to beat yourself up over what happened. I forgive you."

Kento didn't say anything and stood there with his hands still clasped and stared at Cye expectantly as if he hadn't heard a single word just said. Ryo was shaking his head and Rowen was holding back snickers. Anubis looked from Kento to Cye, curious about his response.

"Ugh…another pillow would be nice," Cye grumbled in defeat.

"Done and done!" Kento promptly scampered out of the room.

"And some hot tea!" Cye called.

"Tea! Got it!" Kento hollered from downstairs.

"How long are you gonna let him keep doing that?" Ryo asked and wrinkled his nose.

"Until he decides he wants to stop."

"Wow, I thought *_I_* was demented…" Anubis commented. Rowen chuckled a few moments but stopped when he noticed Cye staring at the blanket covering his knees.

"That's another thing that has me worried: the prophecy about him."

"'Rock' and 'Fire' clearly refer to Kento and Ryo, and 'Wind' can only mean Tanya. 'Avatar' typically refers to a divine manifestation," Anubis theorized.

"So…Kento and I are gonna fight…and Tanya's not going to be involved?"

"I suppose we'll find out in time," Rowen shrugged.

"And what if it's too late by then?" Cye fretted and stared down at the plastic serving dish. He reached over and lifted off the cover and set it aside. "Aww, he made me chocolate chip scrambled eggs." Ryo grimaced but Cye dug in nonetheless.

"I wish we knew whether or not these prophecies were represented chronologically. Like the one about the three wars. Does War of Rage refer to our fight with Dygra and the War of Woe is the End Tide, or do the three wars come before the Entide itself?"

"I highly doubt the end of all good heroes will come so soon. This Suzunagi stated that three Allies must be gained before we face the Entide. Thus far we've only found one."

"And the Thunthen are supposed to be the second…you know, I've only ever seen drawings of them. What do they really look like?" Ryo asked. Cye glanced at each of them as he ate.

"They resemble ten-foot tall bipedal sentient and highly intelligent ankylodons," Rowen replied. Anubis and Ryo stared at him and blinked. "A bunch of giant pissed off koopas."

"Sound chummy, but what is 'A Silver Shadow seeking Light'? Cye, are you sure there isn't anything else you can tell us? Even the smallest detail could prove valuable," Anubis asked.

"I just told you what she told me."

"But are you telling us everything?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. Cye paused in eating.

"Well what the bloody hell is *_THAT_* supposed to mean?!" he demanded angrily. Ryo calmly shrugged and shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Cye, but I'm getting the feeling you're holding back something." Cye relaxed slightly and frowned. "Like Anubis said, even the smallest detail could help.

*_Trust Ryo to sniff out a lie when he hears one…*_ "Look, I'm only telling you what I remembered, and half of that was from whenever I wasn't running for my life. To everyone else I might've looked blissfully unconscious, but to me, I was living a nightmare. I nearly drowned, I plowed my way through an entire alien base, and then I got *_shot_* through the stomach-and NO!-I don't care to recount how *_that_* happened! Look, it's my first day back from the hospital, and I'd like to sit here in this nice warm bed and enjoy this nice *_solid_* meal that Kento made for me, seeing as how I've had nothing but fluids for five days straight.

"If I remember anything, you'll be the first ones to know, but for now, I'd like to get back to eating," Cye grumbled and took a long swig of his juice. Ryo eyed him for a few seconds then nodded slowly and turned to talk to Anubis and Rowen. *_Poor Ryo…what would he think if he saw what I experienced…*_ How much of what Suzunagi showed was real, and how much was merely elements of the story she used to warn? As far as anyone else knew, Ryo's mother was dead, but if Cye gave him false hope only to find out it was just a fevered dream...

While Cye ate, the others were throwing their own theories about the prophecies back and forth. Cye glanced at Rowen and frowned. That was another thing he could never disclose.

_*"They didn't do anything to me. I chose this…"*_

_*"How does a villain become a villain? Is he born always hateful and selfish, or does he begin in glory and honor before descending into madness and despair?"*_ The breakfast tray rattled as Cye shuddered briefly. The others glanced at him.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Rowen asked, both annoyed and concerned.

"Uh, post-traumatic jitters, I guess," Cye smiled weakly. Rowen seemed to accept that answer and went back to his debate with Ryo and Anubis. Cye glanced at him worriedly again.

*_I can't let him live the rest of his life in fear of himself, or have the others always being suspicious, thinking he'd betray them.*_ While the others found answers, Cye only found himself assailed with more questions. *_I'll have to keep an eye out for him…for *_all* _of them…*_

* * *

A clerk at the desk looked up when she noticed someone standing at the counter; a young woman with long jet-black hair bound in two ponytails and bronze-brown eyes fixed on the panel displaying arrival and departure times. She wore a faded gray windbreaker over a light pink shirt and worn blue jeans, but kept her hands in the pockets. "Hello there. How are you today? May I help you with something?" the clerk chirped politely.

"…That flight from Toyama to Glasgow…it board already?"

"Yes, I'm afraid so. If you'd like, I can find another flight. Let's see…ah there's another one leaving in about ten hours with a couple seats still open. Would you like to purchase-" the clerk paused when she looked up only to find the woman had disappeared into the crowd of travelers.

Tanya walked outside the building and looked up at the roof of the airport's main terminal. Several security cameras kept watch over various points, but it didn't take more than a minute for Tanya to figure out a blind spot. She moved around a corner between a wall and a truck then shed her clothes in favor of sub-armor. The cameras only saw a faint pink blur shoot up past them as the Lady Ronin sprang up to the roof then dashed towards the rear of the complex, where flatbeds transported baggage to waiting airliners. She spotted a terminal marked with the number she'd seen from the panel and leapt for one of the flatbeds, crouching down and hiding among the suitcases and duffel bags without the driver even noticing. The second he stopped the vehicle and the cargo doors opened, a pink and white blur sprang from the flatbed into the hold.

Tanya clambered up into the overhead metal beams and stretched out along a segment, crossing her ankles over one end and her arms under her chin. Outside the jet engines whined loudly and the cargo doors shut when the attendants finished loading.

* * *

Sage busied himself in the kitchen fixing his own breakfast. He had a bowl set out and a box of wheat cereal on the counter and reached inside the fridge for a carton of milk and peeled it open while he nudged the door shut with his foot. He paused in returning to his bowl and scowled at the carton then leaned down and sniffed it briefly before recoiling in disgust and closing the carton and setting it by the sink. He sighed in dismay and put the bowl and cereal box away before exploring other options for a mid-morning meal.

Kento entered the kitchen and headed for the cabinet to fetch a teapot but paused when he walked past the milk carton and backed up a step, reaching out to grab it. He peeled it open and sniffed, making a pleased hum before, much to Sage's shock and dismay, gulping the milk down. Sage shook his head and flipped on the small TV set sitting on the counter, hoping the news would take his mind off the sight. Kento hadn't swallowed just yet and had his head and the carton tilted back, trying to get every last drop.

_*"Some people call them 'Angels in Armor'. They've been rumored to swoop into action whenever and wherever trouble occurs, but less than an hour ago, drivers heading to the Toyama International Airport got quite the surprise when they witnessed one of these mythical persons displaying not-so-angelic behavior."*_ Kento blinked and glanced to the side at the TV screen, his cheeks still bulging from the milk in his mouth. _*"One driver sent us this amateur footage captured on the family camcorder of what appears to be a female Ronin Warrior."*_

The view of the two anchors switched to jerky film of an armored figure kneeling atop a car. Voices giggled and laughed from off-screen, and a car horn blared from another vehicle. The person-female with black hair bound in two ponytails-responded to the rude driver with an equally rude gesture, which was promptly blurred out.

_*"Clearly she's not a morning person…"*_ the male news anchor commented.

_*PTHOO!!*_ Kento pitched over and spit out the milk. Sage flinched and whirled around.

"KENTO! For crying out loud! I *_put_* it up there for a reason! You bother to look before you leap at all?! As it is you eat like a pig and now you go and spew it all over the damn counter!"

"Tanya-!" Kento coughed and thumped a fist against his chest, trying to recover.

"Oh please… Even if she did spike the milk again, you must've done something to *_really_* tick her off, and you couldn't prove it was her last time anyway."

"TV-!" Kento gagged again and tried to clear his throat, pointing to the set.

"What? What! What about the TV?! What is so important about-" Sage held out a hand to the TV and turned around, pausing when he saw the images being replayed.

_*"She appears to be in her late teens-early twenties, petite build with black hair and brown eyes. Police have labeled her as a 'person of interest' concerning her morning-traffic antics. If you have any information pertaining to the identity or whereabouts of this person, please call this number-"*_ Sage stared at the screen, stunned and silent. Kento coughed then wiped his mouth.

"That super-power you mentioned you used against the Enemy in your final battle…what did you say it was called again?" Rowen stroked his chin then looked at Cye.

"I can't quite remember the name. I think it was called..uh…pan pizza…pancake surprise…oh goodness, I'm starting to sound like Kento," Cye wrinkled his nose.

"Panthalassa." Cye looked at Anubis sharply.

"Yes! That was it! How'd you-?"

"That is the name given the primordial World Sea that encircled the land before it split and became the continents we know today. That you were able to draw upon such an ancient power, even when asleep, and produce such fantastic results is incredible," Anubis commented.

"I wonder if it could be replicated in the here and now," Ryo mused. Cye frowned.

"That'd be a bad idea…I kinda sorta destroyed the world with that attack-"

"RYO! Ryo! We have a problem!" Sage appeared in the doorway suddenly, looking frantic.

* * *

"Help me wit this, lad! Unngh! There, got it. Start unloadin-"

"Whoa, what's that?" a thin employee pointed to a pink and white form lying atop a metal beam. It looked to be a young black-haired girl wearing some sort of metallic suit. She opened sleepy eyes and yawned in response to the activity.

"*_Bwaaaauuuuugh*_ Am I in Scotland?" she yawned.

"Ye better radio security. We got arselves a stowaway," the bulkier man said to his partner.

"What? No! Don't do that! I'm going already, sheesh!" the girl grumbled and with startling agility, sprang over the two men's heads and away onto the roof of the Glasgow airport.

"Hey! Come back here ye!" Tanya ignored their protests and continued jumping away, finally landing on a truck headed out of the airport and onto the highway.

Scotland retained most of its lush countryside, and apparently lacked convenient highways. She would have to frogger her way into the city like she had back in Toyama, and from there make her way to the location displayed in her dream. The moment the vehicle she knelt on approached a building, she sprang towards the roof and began sprinting along the rooftops. Each time she leapt, she crouched low to the ground then pounced, rising high into the air before flipping forward to land on her feet again. Highleaping, she called it; using powerful, high jumps to cross long distances. She used to do this often in her training, and while the Ancient said it was a waste of energy, she enjoyed it. To her, this was as close as she could ever come to flying.

* * *

_*"I'm sorry, Ryo. I don't know what to say. I thought it was Whiteblaze this morning. If I'd known she was hitchhiking like that, believe me, I would've stopped and taken her back home."*_

"At least we know about what time she took off. We'll find her. Thanks anyway, Mia," Ryo hung up the phone and sighed heavily before pacing about the den. "What could've compelled her to pull a stunt like this?!" he exclaimed and leaned against a wall before pushing away.

"I don't see why you're making such a fuss. Tanya's a big girl. She can take care of herself," Dais replied lazily. He and the other Elder Ronin sat on the sofas with the other younger Ronin.

"Hey! If it were your sister, you'd be worried too!" Ryo protested.

"…No I wouldn't," Dais snorted. Ryo growled and went back to pacing.

"Does he always go bonkers when something like this happens?" Sehkmet whispered.

"You kidding? How'd ya think we won the First War?" Kento answered.

"I'm back!" Kayura announced as she entered the room carrying a small plate and a pitcher of water. She set the plate down and carefully poured out water into the plate until it almost overflowed, just almost. Kayura knelt down and leaned against the table gently. "I can't detect Tanya directly with the Staff, but this can help us locate her." The water rippled before stilling completely. The other Ronin gathered around and observed quietly. The water became cloudy before revealing the Lady Ronin as she slept on a metal beam.

"She looks like she's in a warehouse…" Cale commented.

"No. It's an airliner. You can hear the engines outside," Sage corrected.

"That backs up the TV report, but where's she headed?" Ryo asked.

"Hey look! There's a shipping label! Zoom in on that!" Kento pointed at the water.

"This isn't a camera! I can't just-oh fine," Kayura huffed and closed her eyes again. The water clouded up again then produced an image of a wooden crate.

"Glasgow…wait, isn't that-?"

"In Scotland. It's one of their largest cities," Rowen stated.

"Rowen, can you get a placement from that image? I want you to port over while she's asleep, grab her, and bring her back." Ryo asked.

"…You used 'grab' and 'Tanya' in the same sentence."

"It shouldn't be that hard for you. What are you so afraid of?"

"The fact that the last person who tried to wake her from a nap couldn't sit for a week." Behind Rowen, Anubis grimaced and closed his eyes.

"Ryo, we know you want to make sure Tanya is safe, but if she's not in her normal frame of mind, startling her aboard an airliner full of civilians might not be the best course of action," Kayura advised. Ryo growled softly and looked away. "We'll keep monitoring her position. As soon as she lands and moves into an open area, you can get your answers."

* * *

"Dang…this is Heaven's country…" Tanya remarked as she walked over thick grassy fields and past herds of grazing sheep. Rolling hills flowed into tall distant mountains in almost all directions. Clouds drifted overhead, sending shadows sliding over the land. Tanya remained in sub-armor, and even though she walked alone, she felt as if someone was walking with her, or rather, for her. Her legs seemed to move on their own, and she let them take her deeper into the countryside. She paused when she happened upon a formation of ancient grass-covered stones.

To the naked eye it looked like a field of scattered rocks, but Tanya saw faint outlines of small cottages and wooden fences. Ghostly images of people and livestock danced about the phantom buildings, replaying scenes from centuries past. "This is it…this is where it happened…Mardrena's home town…"

* * *

"She's out in the countryside. Kayura, I want you to stay here for now. If there is something wrong with Tanya, Rowen can come back and get you." Ryo looked to the doorway when Cye entered the room. "You sure you should be out of bed so soon?"

"I'm fine. Besides, it's not like we're going to fight Tanya."

"Yeah…" *_I hope not…*_ "Armor up. Rowen, let us know when."

* * *

Tanya's legs took her to the edge of a vaguely familiar forest. She frowned when she heard a strange whistling hum and turned around. Grass rippled outward from a spot a few feet away, and multicolored rings of light formed in the air. Realization hit her like a brick.

"SHIT!!" she turned around and took off running.

"I saw her! She headed this way!" a voice called. Tanya didn't stop and pushed herself to the limit, using a mixture of highleaping and gymnastics to try and evade her pursuers.

"Tanya! Tanya! Stop! Please! We just want to help you!" Rowen called from above. Tanya ignored him and pounced onto a branch. Rowen swooped down, aiming to tackle her, but Tanya swung down and around, dragging the branch down with her before letting it spring back up, swatting Rowen in the face and knocking him out of the air. She paused for a second when she heard a metallic whistling and saw a thick black cord encircle her loosely.

"I got her!" Kento hollered and prepared to tighten his cord. Tanya sprang up and flipped forward, landing on her palms and yanking her feet away, the cord just barely missing her ankles. She tumbled forward once then got to her feet and continued running. "…Okay I don't got her!"

"Tanya! I don't know what's gotten into you, but you have to stop!" Sage called from where he dashed alongside Tanya. The wayward Lady Ronin didn't look at him. Sage frowned and tensed to ram her, but the second he moved, Tanya reached up and caught a branch, swinging herself up and sending Sage tumbling. She didn't hear any additional cries and assumed she'd lost them. Then a black chain wrapped around her arms, yanking her to a sudden stop. "Aaagh!!"

"Try not to struggle. Make things easier for yourself and for the rest of us," Anubis advised calmly and stepped out into the thicket. Tanya glared at him angrily and started moving her arms, growling with effort as she managed to free one and started shrugging off the chain around the other. Anubis watched with a mixture of awe and pity as the Lady Ronin wormed her way out of the coil of chains until they hung around her waist.

White gossamer threads erupted from the shadows and bound Tanya's arms to her sides once more. She screamed in fury and tried to stand, actually managing to tear loose of some of the webbing, but then a thick black cord looped around her ankles and jerked her off balance. The Lady Ronin shrieked and struggled to her knees, but the webbing tugged forward and dragged her to the ground. She continued squirming futilely as the other Ronin gathered around her, looking annoyed, concerned, or saddened. Ryo himself finally arrived and looked down at his sister, blue eyes pleading for an answer. Tanya stopped moving and hunched her shoulders.

Ryo would find no answer in Tanya's smoldering bronze-brown eyes. All she had was anger.

* * *

Cups and plates rattled on the tray as it moved, being carried steadily up the stairs to the second floor of the small roadside hotel. Ryo carefully balanced the tray on one hand and reached out with the other to turn the doorknob to one of the three rooms they'd rented for the night. He slowly nudged the door open and entered before shutting the door behind him. He walked over to the sofa and set the tray down on the coffee table. He sat down on the opposite end of the sofa away from the pink and white armored figure crouched by the cushioned arm and waited a few moments for any sort of response before setting out cups for each of them.

Tanya kept her knees pulled up to her chest and feet tucked between the seat and back cushions. She'd crossed her arms over the sofa arm and kept her gaze on the room window, remaining in that position since the others quite literally dragged her in kicking and screaming. She'd outright refused to power down, forcing Dais and those strong enough to restrain her to hide within an illusion while the others settled in for the night. Ryo eyed his sister once again while he poured tea and set down the pot.

"So you're not even going to look at me?" he asked softly. Tanya didn't reply, or even look at him out the corner of her eye. "You know, I'm not trying to be 'oppressive' or anything like that. I just want to know why you did what you did. What on earth possessed you to hitchhike all the way to Scotland and not tell anyone why?"

"I dunno…the spirit of my long-dead predecessor?" Tanya growled almost inaudibly.

"Can you not mumble at me? I'm trying to be polite here. Is it that hard to just be honest with me and explain what's going on?" No response. Ryo shook his head and sighed in frustration. "I don't understand you sometimes. What is it you want? What do you want from me?"

Tanya chose then to turn her head slowly and look at him with her now cool bronze brown eyes. "What do I want? Hah!" she started chuckling. "What do _*I*_ want? Hey! Can someone come in here? I wanna get this in writing. Ryo's actually *_asking_* me what *_I_* want!" Tanya yelled in the direction of the door. Ryo frowned. He knew where this was heading…

"Please don't do this…"

Tanya looked at him, grinning before narrowing her eyes in a glare. "What I want is for you to stop acting like the world can't $#*!ing breathe without your say-so. What I want is for you to stop thinking you have to swoop in every time you feel I'm the *_least_* bit threatened. What I want is for you to treat me like I'm a damn *_ADULT_*!" Tanya sprang off the sofa and stood up, clenching her fists at her sides. "I've always been able to take care of myself, you just never *_let_* me! Stop acting like everyone around you can't stand on their own two $#*!ing feet without you! I came here by myself because I didn't want to get anyone involved. I didn't *_tell_* anyone I was leaving because I didn't want anyone to worry!

"But you *_always_* worry! You never *_stop_* worrying! I lived by myself for two whole years! I only ever had myself, and I did just fine without any help." All Ryo could do was sit there and listen, as Tanya vented frustration that clearly had to do with more than her impromptu trip to Scotland. "Ever since I came back you've been hovering over me. I'm not a child anymore! Stop acting like you have to fill in for Mom and Dad!" Ryo's expression went rigid and he clenched the folds of his jeans. Tanya stood there seething and fuming a few more moments before stalking back to her seat and curling up again, returning to her earlier pose.

Ryo slowly stood up and walked towards the door. He paused after opening it and lingered there before looking over his shoulder. "Sometimes, I wonder if my sister really did come back."

"Sometimes I wonder if coming back was a mistake…" Tanya growled, this time loud enough for Ryo to hear clearly. Ryo's breath caught in his throat before he finally exited the room.

The second the door clicked shut Tanya sprang from the sofa and headed for the window. She undid the latches and pushed it open then prepared to slip out.

"And where do you think *_you're*_ going?" Tanya paused when she heard the voice and looked up to see Dais hanging upside down with his legs hooked over a tree branch. "You know better than to sneak off without Ryo's consent." Tanya growled and pulled her leg back inside. "Oh, I wouldn't bother trying to go out through the front door either. There's a watch rotation to make sure you don't go anywhere." Tanya bristled upon hearing that.

"OOH! You (censored)(censored) piece of (censored)(censored)!" Dais merely raised an eyebrow and frowned in confusion.

"Okay, I think it's safe to say that since I didn't understand a word you just said, you didn't really insult me." Tanya roared in frustration and slammed the window shut, shoving the curtains close and returning to sulk on the sofa. "Yeah, I thought so."

"Take it she's still mad?" Rowen asked. Ryo didn't answer and had a saddened expression.

"Rowen…can I ask you something? Am I over-protective? Of Tanya?"

Rowen blinked and scratched the back of his neck. "Umm…I'm probably the wrong person to be asking that. Maybe you should ask some of the others…the ones who *_have_* siblings?"

"I'm not asking them. I'm asking you."

"Well…" Rowen gulped: he wasn't going to get out of this. "Um…I wouldn't say you're 'over-protective'. In fact, it's perfectly natural in your case. Tanya's the only other living member of your family, it makes sense you want to make sure nothing bad happens to her again. Now you might sometimes take things to certain extremes, like with today," Ryo raised an eyebrow at that but kept quiet as Rowen continued. "But a lot of it has to do with Tanya too. Even after she came back and joined up with us, she never seemed to get along with anyone in particular.

"The childhood trauma the two of you suffered, and all the time she spent by herself training really impacted her personality. Now, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's *_damaged_* her, but it makes it very difficult for her to socialize. A lot of the things we do normally, like small talk and polite greetings, she almost finds offensive. She's so hard-wired into doing things on her own it's almost physically uncomfortable for her to work with anyone else."

Ryo didn't say anything and nodded slowly, in agreement apparently. "I never wanted to make her feel uncomfortable. Everything I've done has always been to protect her, I just can't understand why she seems to fight me every step of the way. She wouldn't even tell me what brought her all the way out here in the first place."

"That's another thing, Ryo. For whatever reason Tanya came here, she wasn't going to let *_anybody_* stop her. Not even us. It might be worth looking into," Rowen advised.

"I'll send Sage and Kento out to ask around, see if anything unusual's been happening in this area. Until we find out more, I don't want Tanya leaving. Anubis is next on watch. Let him know when you're going to bed." Rowen nodded and took up position by the door.

* * *

Tanya didn't pay attention to how much time passed during her confinement, despite the ornate cuckoo clock hanging on the wall. All she knew was that it was sometime early morning, because the polished wooden bird had sprung out and chirped a few times some while ago. She'd gotten sore from sitting curled up so long and now lay on her back on the sofa cushions, legs dangling over one arm and arms stretched out behind her head. She kept her gaze to the ceiling and tried to find shapes among the tiny white lumps dotting the ceiling.

The door creaked open, but Tanya didn't bother springing into action to try and escape. "Tanya? Cye will be coming to relieve me, if you needed something." Tanya didn't say anything and bobbed her feet up and down. Anubis stepped inside the room and leaned against the doorway. "Tanya…Ryo is by no means being cruel to you. Everything he's done has always been out of love. He considers you the last person he can love among family." Tanya didn't make any movement or sound indicating that she heard or cared. Anubis sighed and started to turn around.

"Anubis, what were you doing here?" Anubis paused and looked at her. Tanya rolled onto her side and propped herself up on one elbow. "It was around four hundred years ago, and you and Dais were chasing after this big black dragon almost as big as Raurgoth and you two captured it and took it away. What did you want with it?" Tanya asked as calmly as a person asking the time of day. Anubis stared at her for a few moments before smiling and chuckling.

"I can scarcely be expected to remember something that happened *_that_* long ago," he said and shut the door, but not before glancing at the Lady Ronin out the corner of his eye.

Tanya merely nodded to herself and rolled onto her back once more, taking a deep breath then letting it out in a long flapping sigh. She started tapping her fingers on her stomach; randomly at first, then in a more recognizable tune as she returned to connect-the-stucco bumps.

_*"What th' bloody hell ye doin lyin' here fer?"*_

"I know that voice!" Tanya sat bolt upright and scanned the walls with her bronze-brown eyes. She almost skipped over it at first, but then she spotted the unique amber-colored eyes and the sharp face and reddish hair taking form around them. The phantom seemed to peel away from the wall and fully entered the room, becoming more opaque. "Mard! Mard! I can't believe it, it's really you! I thought I was out of my mind when I saw that dream but-" Tanya sprang off the sofa and dashed over to the apparition, arms thrown open to deliver a hug.

Without warning something lashed out and struck Tanya hard enough across the cheek to send her staggering to one side. It felt as if someone socked her with a plastic bag full of ice. She straightened herself and rubbed her chilled cheek, moving her jaw from side to side. "Were you *_always_* this abrasive?" she asked and raised an eyebrow at the phantom.

"Ye managed ta block out most of yuir trainin', but we got more urgent things ta worry about. Like why you're sitting here havin' tea an' biscuits instead o' huntin' down th' gorgon!"

"Hey! Not my fault! I came as fast as I could! I gathered things were urgent from the dream you sent me, but you know my brother, he just *_had_* to come hunt me down clear across the-"

Outside, from his tree, Dais could see the silhouette of Tanya through the curtains. He heard her voice and saw her gesturing wildly as if she were conversing with someone. "Wow she really *_has_* lost her marbles," he commented and wrinkled his nose.

"Are you sure it's really a gorgon anyway? I thought those were just myths."

"Aye, but all myths-" the spectral Mardrena began.

"Have a grain of truth to them," Tanya finished with her and nodded. "Yes, I know. I know. But I thought Medusa was dead. That dude Perseus killed her, right?"

"Ah, but that's not the whole story. What most folk dinnae, is that she had sisters!" Tanya folded her arms over her chest and leaned to one side, ready to listen. "Ages ago Medusa was originally a human girl, an' a pretty one at that. Said to have had unparalleled beauty among mortals. Her sisters weren't so fortunate, as they were gorgons, and unable to dwell among men, fer their faces were so hideous, a mere glimpse of them would turn a victim ta stone.

"Medusa eventually came ta serve at th' Temple of Athena, as a priestess under th' Goddess of Wisdom. Medusa attracted th' attentions an' desires of th' Lord of the Seas: Poseidon, who seduced her. This defilement enraged Athena, and as punishment, she turned Medusa into a form like that of her sisters, and banished her ta live with them; forever apart from th' world of men.

"After Perseus parted Medusa's head wit her body, an' Athena mounted th' head upon her Aegis, her sisters were left alone once more. Euryale long ago faded into Antiquity, but Stheno wasn't as eager ta fade into myth like her sisters before her, an' she was, an' remains, violent enough to put Medusa ta shame. When th' first gods departed th' mortal plane, along with th' gorgon's immortality, Stheno sought out alternatives ta prolong her life…"

"But, you killed her, didn't you?" Tanya asked. Mardrena gave her a long hard look.

"No, I called ye halfway across th' bloody globe ta have a heart ta heart wit ye!" Tanya bit her lip and looked away but Mardrena's expression turned solemn once more. "No…all I did was bury th' beast. She managed to survive all those centuries…waiting…*_fasting_*. If I'd known…I woulda dug her right out an' given her th' Perseus treatment. Stheno's survived fer millennia by draining th' life force from her victims. Th' longer she lives, the more victims she claims."

"How *_did_* she get free? In the dream you buried her in a pretty far-out location."

"So I thought…" Mardrena said icily and narrowed her eyes. "Th' world's runnin' fast outta hidden places. Men these days din' leave no stone unturned when it comes ta new riches. Her runnin' loose in th' world 'tis only compounded by th' modern age. These days, people go missin' all th' time! Few ever notice, even fewer care."

"So that's what you need me for. That's what's keeping you in this world…"

"Pfft. Din be silly! I *_chose_* ta remain fer other reasons, such as keepin' an eye on ye!" Tanya frowned and looked downward. She shuddered when she felt a chilly sensation on her shoulder and glanced up. "I din want ye ta repeat the mistakes I made. There's a time, an' a place, an' a purpose for all things, such as when ta fight alone, an' when ta fight wit yuir friends."

"But in your dream, that priest guy didn't want to give you the time of day. You offered to help him and he treated you like you didn't exist! Same thing with your husband-"

"We refused each other's help." Mardrena said firmly, and Tanya bit back whatever comment she was about to make. "Fault lies in me as much as it does others. Ta this day an' centuries after, I'll regret that one mistake. One of many…" Mardrena gazed at the floor wistfully. Doubt crossed Tanya's face, but she shook her head and scowled.

"So the gorgon's still in that area, feeding off civilians who get caught in the wrong place…what can I do if I'm stuck here?" Tanya asked. The first Lady Ronin smirked.

"Do what ye always do. Be unconventional…"

* * *

"I hope you guys found something. You've been gone for quite awhile," Ryo commented from the table as Sage and Kento returned. Sage snorted and jerked a thumb at Kento.

"He's the one who insisted on visiting every restaurant in a fifteen-mile radius."

"Hey, people are a lot more talkative over a nice warm meal. Besides, it's not like I came back empty handed." Kento set a plastic container on the table close to Ryo and flicked open the lid. "Heart, lung, and stomach meat spiced and cooked to perfection! Try some, you'd like it." Ryo raised an eyebrow and stared at the steaming container then wrinkled his nose.

"I'm good," he answered weakly. Kento shrugged and snatched up the container and began eating heartily. "So what did you two find out?"

"About three weeks ago one of the local companies sent a survey team into the highlands to research some mineral deposits. They'd been doing some digging near a collapsed cavern system when all contact ceased about four days ago. The company assumed equipment failure…"

"Yah, but then they sent a *_second_* team out. Hadn't heard a word from them in three days either," Kento added through mouthfuls. Ryo frowned and wove his fingers under his chin.

"There's been a few other strange incidents in the past week too. Some sightseers and campers have gone missing without a trace," Sage finished. Ryo nodded slowly.

"Maybe this is what brought Tanya over here. …You two wait in the lobby. I'm going to go talk to Tanya again," Ryo said and stood up. He exited the room and walked down the hall to where Cye stood watch outside Tanya's room. "She hasn't said anything still?" Ryo asked. Cye shook his head and scooted to the side as Ryo stepped infront of the door and rapped his knuckle against it. "Tanya? Tanya, listen, I think we know why you came here. It might have to do with reports of people going missing recently." No answer. "I think you know what's causing it. If you tell us, maybe we can work together and put an end to this." Still no answer. "Wait by the door in case she tries anything," Ryo ordered and opened the door slowly.

"What?!" The room was empty of any other person. "Where'd she go?" Ryo ran over to the window and pushed up the sill. "Dais! Tanya didn't leave, did she?"

"No way she got past me!"

"Well she's not here! Ugh!" Ryo slammed the window shut and began checking the closet, under the bed, even drawers. Cye took a step into the room but kept himself close to the doorway. He didn't think anything at first when tiny white flecks fell onto his shoulder. Then more bits rained down on him. Cye grunted, annoyed, and brushed them off, but paused when he spotted a large chunk and realized what the substance was and where it would have come from. He looked up slowly and gasped when he saw the person clinging to the ceiling, her fingers dug securely into the drywall and feet braced against the wall and doorframe.

"HAAYAAH!" Tanya swung down and kicked Cye in the shoulders, sending him tumbling forward and colliding with Ryo. The two of them collapsed in a heap by the sofa.

"Hey! What's going on in there?!" Dais demanded when he heard the commotion.

"Stop her!" Ryo howled and staggered to his feet. Sage ran out into the hall and saw Tanya running in his direction. Before he could make any effort to grab her, she jumped up and grabbed a light fixture, lashing out and hooking her legs around Sage's midsection before flinging him back against Ryo and Cye as they entered the hall. By now the noise had alerted other guests in the hotel, but by the time they shuffled out into the hall and lobby to investigate, Tanya had slipped outside. She ran down the breezeway where a wrought iron fence sealed off one side and rooms occupied the other. She spotted a gate at the end, but she skidded to a halt when someone stepped out from another hallway and blocked her escape.

"There's no way I'm letting you leave, Tanya!" Kento declared and readied himself. Tanya took a step back and glanced to either side. She looked at Kento again then slipped through the iron bars that stood only a few inches apart. "Whoa!" Kento's eyes widened at the sight and he stood by the fence and watched Tanya as she fled. He tried to follow her example, but could only squeeze his shoulder through. Growling in frustration, he grabbed two bars and pulled them apart. Before he could slip through, he stopped when he saw the person watching him.

An elderly woman wearing a nightgown and holding a flashlight stood by one of the room doors. A neatly groomed Scottie stood by her feet and wagged its tail, watching the Ronin Warrior with curiosity. The woman blinked several times and adjusted her silver-rimmed glasses. Kento glanced from her to the bars he'd bent then pushed them back into place. He clasped his hands together and began walking backwards, whistling innocently.

"Tanya! Stop right there! I won't let you escape that easily!" Dais called as he pursued. Tanya didn't seem inclined to give herself up, so Dais drew out his weapon. "WEB OF DECEPTION!!" The extensors flew towards the Lady Ronin. Even if they missed and struck the ground behind her, they could still send out resilient sticky webbing.

Tanya skidded to a stop and turned around on the ground, crouching and lunging *_under_* the extensor rods. Dais' jaw dropped as the Lady Ronin pounced *_towards_* him. "AAAAAAGH!!" Tanya screamed as she closed the distance before Dais could recall his weapon.

"I think she went this way!" Ryo, Rowen, and Anubis ran towards the cry of pain. They found Dais curled up on the ground, both hands clamped between his legs and his weapon lying beside him. "Dais! What the hell, I thought you said you wouldn't let her escape!"

"AWWW MAAAAN! DUDE!! YOUR SISTER KICKS LIKE A *_MULE_*!! AHH HAAHH!!" Dais bawled pitifully. Ryo snorted in disgust and took off towards the forest with Rowen, leaving Anubis with the incapacitated Elder Ronin. "I DON'T BELIEVE IT! I WAS IN FULL ARMOR AND SHE *_STILL_* GOT THEM! AWWW!" Anubis winced sympathetically.

"Well…it could've been worse. You could've been like me and *_not_* been wearing armor," he offered. Dais continued weeping and coughing.

"I think she *_broke_* one of them too….aww-haw-haw!" he whined. Anubis looked to either side then reached down and grabbed Dais by the shoulders.

"Come on. Let's get you out of here before any civilians see you," he muttered and dragged Dais into the forest behind some bushes, the injured Ronin whimpering all the time.

"I think we lost her. She's in sub-armor, and she knows how to move without leaving any tracks," Rowen commented as he and Ryo paused to catch their breath. "Ryo, for safety's sake, maybe it might be better to just let her go." Ryo snapped his angry glare onto him.

"You really don't get it, do you?" Rowen shook his head, confused. "Whatever she came here to face is so dangerous, she doesn't want anyone else involved. Rowen, she expects to *_die_*!" Rowen's eyes widened at that revelation. "I lost her once before, I won't let her sacrifice herself again. *_NEVER_* again! Go back to Japan and get Kayura. I'll send the others out in the meantime. She keeps heading for the forest; whatever she's looking for is bound to be somewhere in the highlands. Hopefully we can intercept her in time."

* * *

Tanya stood outside the aged building several moments before walking over to what remained of the door. It had been sturdy once, but now barely hung in its hinges. She carefully nudged it open, but even then splinters of worm-rotted wood sloughed away. Tanya winced and looked around nervously, her eyes adjusting to the dark interior. The sun wouldn't rise for hours.

Suddenly fire sprang to life in cobweb-shrouded lanterns and candle sticks, flooding the chapel with enough light for Tanya to see the occupants. Dozens of life-sized statues stood amid the ancient warped pews, as if attending Mass. Tanya walked among the statues, studying each one. She paused when she saw one that stood out from the rest. It looked to be of a middle aged man with neat clothing and trimmed hair. One hand was held close to his waist, the other raised with a rusted chain hanging from his fist. Tanya narrowed her eyes and stepped closer. She extended her hand and gently cupped the tarnished cross.

The chain snapped and the cross tumbled into her hand. "CRAP!" Tanya looked to either side then pinched the cross between her fingers and looked for somewhere to put it. She set it within the petrified folds of the man's sleeve and stepped back. "That…these…who I think they are?"

"Aye. Father Malcolm Douglas." Tanya looked to the side at the stained glass window and the faint form that moved away from it. Under the flickering candle light, Tanya could make out the full design of the window: that of a flame-haired woman wearing stylized armor, leaping into the air with both swords drawn. The apparition looked over her shoulder and snorted.

"Andrew insisted on having that made. If I were around I woulda protested against it, but his apprentices were so dazzled by th' tales he told o' me, they immortalized my likeness in glass. Ye wouldn't know by lookin' at it, but tis the very same church. Andrew reinforced th' walls an' replaced th' roof wit tile from Spain. His line kept it in good repair…until it failed about fifty years ago." Mardrena walked over to the statue identified as Father Douglas and stroked it. "Sheltered within this church are all th' victims of the gorgon I could find."

"How did you-" Tanya pointed at the statue of a modern day researcher.

"I have my ways," Mardrena replied and smirked. She frowned once more and looked downward. "I shoulda suspected th' deed t'weren't done back then, but past is past."

"Mard, how am I supposed to fight this thing if I can't even see it?"

"Douglas used a mirrored dish ta try an' fight her, an' she is vulnerable ta sharp steel, but there may be somethin' else. Before I came here, th' Ancient told me somethin', somethin' that din make much sense ta me then, but now I feel may have worth. He told me 'See witout Seein'. Yah, I know. I still din get it even now, but if fightin' blindfolded will keep ye flesh n' blood, 'tis worth a shot," Mardrena shrugged in reply to Tanya's confused expression.

"Wow your accent's *_thick_*! Has anyone ever told you it's worse than Cye's?"

"As a matter of fact, yes. Long ago." Tanya jerked her head back at that remark. "Yuir brother an' his friends are closin' in fast. I suggest ye be quick, lest ye want more ta wind up here."

*****

"I heard Tanya got past you. How'd you let her escape with all your brilliant plans to keep her confined?" Cale teased as he and the other Elder Ronin trekked through the forest.

"The Lady Ronin employed an unconventional tactic to incapacitate me and prevent me from pursuing her," Dais replied with a tight expression.

"She kicked you in the nards didn't she?" Sehkmet asked.

"Yes she did."

"That girl takes after Mardrena so much it's disturbing," Cale shook his head. Anubis frowned and glanced over his shoulder at them.

"Now that I think of it…I wonder if that has anything to do with why she came here. This is the homeland of the first Lady Ronin, after all. You know, before I switched shifts, Tanya mentioned something that surprised me. She loosely described the mission we went on to capture Graunin, even though that happened centuries before she was even born."

"Whatever happened to that thing, anyway?" Cale tapped his chin with a finger.

"Last I saw of it Badamon carted it away for some project or other. I could care less. I couldn't stand being in this land back then and the sooner we retrieve Tanya and get the hell out, the better. Why the hell don't we split up? Would cover more ground," Dais grumbled.

"Ryo is under the impression that Tanya faces certain death alone. He mandated we remain in groups in the event we encounter whatever she's looking for," Anubis replied.

"I'm not sure if I'd rather face some unknown horror than the Lady Ronin, eh Sehk? …Sehk?" Cale looked over his shoulder when he didn't hear an immediate reply. "OH GODS!!"

Sehkmet stood several feet behind them, head turned sideways as if looking at something in the woods. One hand was frozen mid-reach of his swords. From the tip of his helm crest to the toes of his boots, he seemed to have been completely petrified.

"It's here!" "Be on your guard!" "Oh crap…" The three remaining Elder Ronin stood back to back, weapons drawn and senses alert.

"I didn't even hear him say anything! What could have done that so quickly?" Cale hissed.

"There's no telling. It could be a spell or some ancient weapon-" Dais thought he saw movement off to the side. "I got you!!" he cried and fired his extensors.

"Did you see it? What did it look like? …Dais?" Anubis looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened when he saw grayish stone replace the last traces of Dais' maroon-colored armor. His single eye was frozen wide open in an expression of terror and shock. "A gorgon! It's a gorgon! Cover your eyes!" Anubis whipped his chain at his side and looked forward. He glanced sideways when he saw a ripple of cloth among the bushes. "You won't have me, demon!!"

"Too late…" a sinister voice hissed from the shadows. Two red lights flashed brightly.

"Anubis! Did you get it?" Cale turned around. "Gaack!" he squawked and staggered back when he saw Anubis' chain frozen in the air, the weighted claw just inches from striking Cale's face. Cale glanced at each of the three petrified Elder Ronin. "Forget this! I'm out of here!" he swirled his cape around himself and leapt into the trees, shadowy fog covering him as he fled.

* * *

"One of the locals mentioned an interesting fact. There's an old church somewhere on a few acres of land five miles north of here. You'll never guess the name of the family who used to own it," Sage mentioned as he walked out into the courtyard towards Ryo. "Lockehart."

"Mardrena Lockehart…the first Lady Ronin…I should've suspected she had something to do with all of this. Hey, where the heck is Rowen? He said he'd be back in a few minutes; it's been almost half an hour. Go out to the front and see if he and Kayura haven't arrived yet. There might be too many people milling about." Sage nodded and headed for the gate. Ryo looked at an ivy-covered wall and sighed. "Mardrena…what have you roped my sister into…"

"RYO!!" Ryo frowned and snapped his gaze to the gate. "You better come here fast!" The Ronin Leader pushed the portcullis open and walked out into the parking lot. He saw Sage waving at him from around the corner of the complex. "I think we'll have to find Tanya on our own…" Sage muttered and nodded at the two figures standing on the lawn. All color seemed to have drained from his face, and Ryo saw why as he arrived.

Rowen stood with his bow raised and arrow almost to the string. Kayura stood behind him. She gripped the Staff and looked ready to cast a spell, except she, the Staff, and Rowen were made entirely out of stone. Ryo took a step closer and reached out, placing a hand on Rowen's shoulder. He pushed it once, testing whether it was real or an illusion. They were real.

"Get Kento to help you move them out of sight. I'm going to find Tanya. Even if she's my sister, if she knew this would happen and could have prevented it by telling us, she has to answer for that," Ryo said coldly. Sage nodded understandingly. "ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!!!"

* * *

A seething cloud of black smoke sprang through the trees, pausing only for a second before moving again. Then the cloud stopped and settled on a thick branch. "There was nothing I could do. If I had stayed to fight, I would've ended up in the same boat. Yeah, that's what I'll tell him. He'll understand; he's fair like that. Maybe the others will have a plan, something to keep it from using its' power. If they're still at the hotel, I can meet up with them. I mean, it can't see me if I can't see it? Right? ...Right?" Cale rest his claws against the trunk and panted heavily. Was that hissing from the shadow fog, or the wind?

* * *

Tanya stiffened when she heard a twig snap behind her. She whirled around and raised her blade launcher. "Don't shoot! It's me!" Tanya cocked her head to one side as she recognized the voice. She heard the creaking of armor and the rustling of leaves as the newcomer approached.

"Go back to the hotel, Ryo. Just let me finish what Mardrena started."

"It got Rowen and Kayura." Tanya frowned but didn't say anything. "Possibly Anubis and the others too. If they couldn't stop it, what makes you think you can?" Tanya pulled out a dagger and held it at her side when she heard Ryo step closer.

"I've come this far, I won't go back. I'm in full armor now, you can't beat me!"

Ryo shook his head sadly. "We shouldn't be fighting each other. Would it have been that hard to just tell us what was going on and ask for our help?"

"I don't need help. If you had just let me go my way, there wouldn't have been any casualties. What happened to Rowen and Kayura isn't my fault, it's yours. You're the one who brought everyone else here and put them in danger. *_Don't*_ say another word, Ryo. Get out of here before it finds you and turns you into a lawn ornament."

"Tanya, I don't want to lose you-" Tanya turned to the side slightly, as if listening.

"Cover your eyes, hurry! If you see it, you're done for!" Ryo was about to protest when he noticed Tanya's eyes. At first he thought they were covered by shadows until he saw faint starlight reflecting off jet black strands. She'd wrapped her ponytails around her head, effectively blindfolding herself. While Tanya remained on guard, Ryo shook his head and took off his helmet and let it hang on his swords. He reached down and untied the golden cord at his waist and shook it loose. He then began wrapping it around his head, covering his eyes with each coil until finally tying it into a knot. He then replaced his helm and reached for his swords.

"How is this supposed to help?"

"It's a gorgon. Basically Medusa's older and meaner sister. As long as you don't make eye contact, you'll be safe. Now stay quiet. Don't make a sound…" Ryo scowled under his blindfold but didn't say anything. He didn't hear anything, either, and started to doubt Tanya.

"How do I know that you're not gonna run off without me knowing and leave me standing here like an idiot? See, we wouldn't be in this mess if you clued us in in the first place."

"No, *_you_* wouldn't be in this mess if you'd just minded your own %$#ing business in the first place and stayed at home!" Tanya snapped and turned her head towards Ryo.

"Wow, you *_ARE_* damaged!"

"Well you're a dick!"

"Ssssseeeeeahhhh…." Both of them stiffened upon hearing the chilling sound. Before Ryo could say anything, or react, something collided with him and knocked him to the ground.

"Tanya! It's on me! It's on me!" Ryo writhed as he felt the gorgon pinning him down.

"Get off of him!!" Tanya lunged, but something struck her in the chest and sent her tumbling back. Ryo felt the weight move off him briefly and tried to sit up to assist, but claws gripped his shoulders and shoved him down again.

"Open your eyessss! Give me your life!" the gorgon hissed and started to pull the cord covering Ryo's eyes loose. Ryo struggled and squeezed his eyes shut as he felt the cord falling away. Brass claws clutched his jaw and turned his face upward.

"RYO! DON'T OPEN YOUR EYES!!" Tanya shrieked. Ryo cried out when he felt the brass claws pinching his neck and opened his eyes, just a crack. "LEAVE HIM ALONE!!" Tanya hurled her dagger, but instead of piercingthe gorgon, it struck a tree trunk. Leaves rustled and fell away from where the gorgon had fled into the trees. Tanya listened for any sound of its return before reaching up and pulling her ponytails loose. She ran over to where she saw Ryo lying on the ground on his back. "Ryo! Ryo!- Oh no…."

"Ta-…" Ryo's voice trailed off into a rattling wheeze, and Tanya heard a crackling sound coming from all over his body, starting from his eyes which had turned cold grey. All Tanya could do was watch as stone rapidly replaced flesh, hair, and armor.

"Ryo…no…no no no…" Tanya knelt beside him and leaned over him, pressing her cheek against his chest. "No…no…not you…not you…" Tears fell from her lashes onto the rough stone. "Why…WHY! You idiot! Why did you have to come! If you just stayed behind, this wouldn't have-you wouldn't-ARAAAAGHHH!" Tanya leapt to her feet and pulled her helmet off, holding it under her arm while she tied her ponytails over her eyes again. "HE *_WILL_* BE THE LAST!!" Tanya took off running in the direction she'd heard the gorgon escape.

"Do you hear that? Sounded like her screaming…" Tanya skidded to a stop and whirled to the left when she heard a muffled voice. She drew her other sword and pounced, shrieking like a banshee. "WHOA! Hey, easy girl! Watch where you swing those things!"

"Tanya! Tanya, it's us! Chill out!" Tanya felt something wrap around her arms. She struggled and snarled, but the person held her firmly. She dropped one sword and reached up with her right hand and pulled her ponytails away from her eyes.

"Get off of me!" she batted Kento away with her left arm. "Did it come this way? Did you see it?" she demanded of Cye, who looked totally confused.

"See what?"

"The gorgon! It got Ryo! Oooooh when I find it I'll make it pay!" Tanya seethed and looked around the clearing then back at the two confounded Ronin. "You two better port out of here before it gets you too. A Lady Ronin started this; it has to be a Lady Ronin who finishes it."

"That doesn't mean we can't give you a hand. Just tell us what to do."

"Yeah. There's no way that demon can beat the three of us," Kento scoffed. His eyes widened and his confident smirk evaporated when he heard a rattling hiss.

"I wouldn't be too sure about that…" Tanya muttered and blindfolded herself again before taking up her swords. "Keep your eyes shut. No matter what, don't open them!" Kento and Cye obeyed and turned around, trying to determine the beast's location. Tanya kept her ears tuned for the multiple smaller hisses that accompanied the gorgon.

"Aaaah!" Kento yelped when he felt something grab him by the shoulder and fling him against a tree with shocking strength. He brought his arm up and knocked away his attacker. Tanya fired her blades and Cye jabbed in the direction of the sound. The gorgon snarled and leapt back. Kento struggled to regain his balance and pushed himself away from the trunk. He opened his eyes just a crack before closing them quickly when he saw a shadowy shape.

"Tanya! Kento, Cye! I'll keep it distracted!" Sage called out. Tanya flinched when she sensed bright light through her eyelids and hair. "The Light of Halo will blind you, demon!!" Sage plunged his nodatchi into the ground and sent an eruption of brilliance throughout the area. An unearthly wail pierced the air. Tanya snapped her attention towards the sound and slashed.

Sage held his sword infront of his face and opened his eyes. He turned the blade sideways and kept his gaze on his reflection and tilted the blade slightly, enough to see the reflections of the others attacking the air blindly. Something passed by him and Sage tilted the blade again.

"Right idea, wrong weapon…." Glowing red eyes peeked over the edge of the sword.

"Sage! Sage, what happened! Sage?" Cye called out.

"No use! It got him!" Tanya fretted.

"That's it! I'm getting us out of here! Hold on!" Kento reached out and grabbed Cye's shoulder and Tanya's arm. The two of them heard the whoosh of a teleport.

"How the bloody hell do you fight something you can't look at?" Cye complained and wiped his brow with the back of his hand. Tanya shook her head and pulled her ponytails away.

"We could use our abilities. Take it out in one blast…" Kento shrugged.

"No. You can't in this area. Too much risk of hurting the others or damaging the chapel…" While Tanya paced about the clearing, Cye glanced at Kento, who was rubbing his eyelids.

"You okay there, mate?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just feeling a little tired, that's all. So, what do we do now?" Kento asked and opened his eyes and looked at them. Cye gasped and Tanya's eyes widened. "What?"

"Kento…Oh no…" Cye looked worried.

"What? What's wro-" Kento paused when he heard a curious sound, like that of sandpaper against a rough surface. He frowned and looked down at his arm. Splotches of grey appeared on his armor and started expanding. "No…No! No! I only saw it for a second!"

"That's all it takes…" Cye said sadly. Kento looked at them with his stone grey eyes.

"Kento, listen to me. If your element is rock, maybe you can reverse the effect," Tanya suggested quickly. Kento struggled as his legs stiffened and his fingers froze.

"I-I can't! It's not the right type! I-I-" he choked as he reached out towards them. A soft whimper rose from his throat before his mouth stopped moving.

Cye sagged against a tree and shook his head in disbelief. Tanya covered her mouth and looked away. She squeezed her eyes shut and forced back tears.

_*"We refused each other's help…"*_ Tanya took a deep breath and swallowed. _*"Fault lies in me as much as it does others. Ta this day an' centuries after, I'll regret that one mistake…"*_

"This is…this is my fault…All of this…my fault! I should have told Ryo. I should have told him everything! Maybe then he wouldn't have sent the others into a trap just because of me." Cye gave Tanya a sympathetic pat. "Mardrena said…the longer it lives, the more victims she has to claim... And Kento said it wasn't the right 'type'. What if she's not just turning people to stone? What if it's something more explainable? Like…long term paralysis, or something? Maybe they're still aware of everything going on around them! What if killing her *_doesn't_* free the victims? What if once that life energy's been drained it's gone for good?" she croaked.

"What if's and maybes never accomplished anything, and blaming yourself or others won't change what happened. You shouldn't let this keep you from your mission. Maybe...maybe you were right all along. Maybe it *_has_* to be a Lady Ronin who finishes this."

"How? Mardrena told me 'See without Seeing'. Fat lot of good that's done me!"

"Maybe…it's a different kind of sight, sight that can only be achieved through solitude. You should go now. Find this thing and finish what you started. I'll stay with Kento to keep him safe." Tanya looked hesitant but swallowed then nodded. "Good luck." Tanya blindfolded herself again and straightened her helmet then drew both swords and took off into the woods. Cye picked up his trident and twirled it around before resting it against his shoulder. He paced around Kento's rigid form. "All these years I've called you rock-headed…go figure."

* * *

*_See without Seeing…*_ Tanya tilted her face to the sky. The air was still and damp, and sunrise hours away. "…I think I'm starting to understand." Tanya felt around for a tree and sheathed her swords. She grabbed a low branch and clambered up until she could go no higher. She drew her swords once more then crouched until her knees almost touched her chest. Tanya pounced into the air and began spinning her swords. She aimed the sword wheel downward, but did not invoke the Typhoon Blast. Gusts flowed out for miles, sending leaves brushing against a calcified form kneeling atop a tree branch and grass whipping against the feet of three still figures. The powerful breeze continued moving in a spiral.

* * *

Cye sat on the ground with his back to Kento's legs. He tapped his fingers along the shaft of his weapon and hummed in worry. He looked up when he felt the wind sweep through the area. Treetops rustled and creaked as if being affected by a storm front. Cye rose to his feet and stepped away from Kento. "You came back for me. Saving the best for last, are we?"

"Ssssssahhh….of courssse…" Cye closed his eyes and nodded solemnly.

"AAYAAAHHHH!" he howled and whirled around before thrusting with his trident.

* * *

"Stheno!! Where are you? I'm here, in case you couldn't tell! You left a legacy in stone, but Mardrena left a legacy in me too! I'll send you to your sisters soon enough!" Tanya shouted skyward then turned to face the wind. She frowned when she heard faint chuckling.

"Few call me by that name anymore…few call me at all… Your friendssss have made me ssstrong, ssso ssstrong, I won't have to hunt for centuriesss. Think of it thisss way; nine livesss in exchange for dozensss." Tanya kept still and listened to the way the voice seemed to walk towards her then around her. She felt a void in the wind briefly before the breeze once more caressed her face. "You're ssstanding ssso ssstill…like ssstone…I can make you sssuch if you want. You can join your companionsss, if you'd like. It isssn't ssso bad, really. You feel no pain, and you'll live forever; free from age, free from sssicknesss, free from the sssword…"

"All the things you're afraid of?"

"I am immortal. Nothing can harm me."

"Immortal can have different meanings. It could mean you're completely invulnerable, or it could mean you're proofed against all the things you mentioned. Mardrena told me that when your age ended, and your gods left this world, your immortality went with them. Is that why you have to feed? Medusa never needed to, so what's your story if you're immortal?"

"Sssss! Ssshe was mortal, ssshe was weak! That'sss why ssshe died like an animal!"

"You're supposed to be any different? You feed on the weak and helpless to extend your own life. You're nothing more than a rogue dog waiting to be put down."

"I have every right to live. I've never taken more than I needed to sssurvive. Sssurely you can understand that…" The voice kept circling Tanya, and every time it paused infront of her she felt a void in the breeze. While the gorgon kept pacing, Tanya reached down and drew out her chakaram halves and joined them together.

"I understand that you have to die!!" Tanya hurled the weapon the second she felt the void once more. The gorgon screeched in pain and went silent, and Tanya's ponytails started to slide out of place, strands of hair falling away from over her eyes. She dared to open her eyes and saw a cloaked figure faltering infront of her. Brass claws clutched at a deep gouge in the right shoulder, and glowing red eyes narrowed in anger. Tanya sucked air through her teeth and raised her left hand infront of her face. Her heart seemed to freeze in her chest and her vision blurred.

"That won't sssave you! It'sss already too late! You are mine now!" Tanya took deep breaths, but each one took greater effort. Her eyesight was as if she were looking through a fogged glass door. Was this what victims went through? "It only takesss one glimpssse doom you." Stheno crowed and hissed, oblivious to the metallic whirring coming from behind. Tanya's fingers froze in an extended position as her arm started to turn to stone.

The chakaram sliced through cloth, scale, flesh, and bone before striking Tanya's palm and hooking itself over her thumb. Cracks spread in the stone through her palm and to the back of her hand, and her knuckles shifted slightly. The Lady Ronin felt as if she was suffocating and she struggled to breathe. The stone overtaking her body halted, then slowly, began to recede.

"It only takes…one strike…to end you," Tanya croaked with effort. Dozens of tiny serpents hissed in protest as Stheno's head tumbled onto the ground and rolled away a few inches. The crack in Tanya's hand started to seal up, vanishing completely before stone gave way before metal. The fog lifted from her eyes just in time for her to see the still-standing body of the gorgon turn to stone and crumble to dust, collapsing into a pile along with the disembodied head.

Tanya sank to her knees and sagged to the side. She stared at the spot on the ground where the last bits of the gorgon drifted away, but she saw no sparkling motes or pillar of brilliance. Nothing indicated that the stolen life energy had returned to the other victims. "Ryo…Ryo!" Tanya sprang to her feet and took off running.

* * *

"Uhh…oh man…" Ryo shook his head and sat up. He rubbed a hand against his forehead and blinked several times as the stiffness faded from his body.

"RYO! RYO! You're okay! Oh God, I am SO sorry!" Ryo grunted when something tackled him to the ground again and squeezed him.

"Sis? What happened?" Ryo frowned and patted Tanya on the back.

"I've ended it. It's finally over…" Tanya whispered and hugged Ryo again.

"-Rowen! Watch out-!...where did it go?" Kayura blinked and looked to either side.

"I have no idea…" Rowen lowered his bow and scratched his head. He heard a snuffling sound and looked down. "Hey! Stop that! Get! Get!" he squawked and nudged the inquisitive Scottie with his toe, sending it scampering away.

"-aaaahh! Whoa! Whoawhoawhoa! AACK!" Cale wind-milled his arms futilely as he toppled off the branch and landed on his back in the bushes. "Ow…"

"-Look out! Look out-EEP!" Sehkmet ducked just in time to avoid getting pegged in the face by Anubis' claw chain. "Hey! What gives!"

"We're flesh...something must've happened to the gorgon," Anubis muttered and looked to the sky. Behind him, Dais rolled his shoulders and stretched. Deeper into the forest, Sage stuck the tip of his sword into the ground and sank to one knee. He gazed into his reflection in the blade, relieved that he could see once more. In another location Cye and Kento hugged each other, rejoicing now that they were free from the terrible spell.

* * *

The door to the chapel fell off its hinges entirely as a figure wearing black clothes staggered out onto the grass. He sank to his knees and rubbed his forehead. Father Malcolm Douglas looked up at the sky and the faint flare of sunrise creeping in from the horizon. "Morning…it…it was day…I remember…" Something fell from the folds of his shirt and landed on the grass, gleaming faint silver. Douglas picked it up gently and held it in his palm. "Am I awake at last?"

"Aye, th' nightmare's ended. Fer all ye." Douglas got off the grass and turned around. His eyes widened when he saw a faint image against the outer wall of the chapel.

"I remember you! Murdina! But you're…you look…different. What happened? I remember fighting that demon, and after that a sleep I could not wake from."

"Centuries have passed since that fateful day. I am long since dead. You see only a remnant of me, but even as such, I can still help ye. Much in th' world has changed. As ye can tell, much of yuir former fellow victims will have quite a time adjustin' ta th' new age. I'll do what I can ta get ye caught up, but they'll be afraid, an' uncertain. They'll need a shepherd. They'll need a shield," Mardrena's spirit grinned and nodded towards the chapel, where newly awakened people struggled to comprehend their surroundings.

* * *

"I'll admit I went…a *_bit_* overboard, and I'm sorry that I said you were damaged. I forget how strong you've become, and even though you're my little sister, you're not so little anymore. Tanya…I'm sorry." Ryo and the other Ronin gathered in the courtyard of a hedge maze. Tanya stood amid them and, for the first time since her adventure began, looked meek.

"We're *_all_* Ronin Warriors, and we should fight as a team. That's the purpose of the Lady Ronin, isn't it? The One to bind the Nine? How can we stay together if not even the Lady Ronin will stay with us?" Tanya gazed off to the side, lost in thought. "No more of this Lone Ronin stuff, please? I'd like you to think of everyone here as friends you can trust."

"And I'd like an apology for my shattered-oof!" Dais grunted when Cale elbowed him sharply. Tanya continued staring at the grass. Without warning, she lunged forward and threw her arms around Ryo's shoulders, burying her face against his neck. Ryo looked surprised and glanced at Rowen and Anubis. The two of them shook their heads and waved their hands, cautioning him against overplaying his hand. Ryo looked back at his sister and slowly reached up and placed a hand on the back of her head.

"Just…don't do it again…please? It shouldn't have to be you versus the world anymore; you have us. Always remember that, and always remember that we care. Allright?" Ryo placed his knuckle under Tanya's chin and tilted her face up slightly. The Lady Ronin hurriedly wiped away moisture from her lashes and nodded eagerly. "Good. How about we go home?" Ryo extended his hand and Tanya placed hers over his, followed by the others'.

"Hey, I got a location we can go to! It's a small white building with a red door and-"

"We're not going to the pizza parlor, Kento," Rowen grumbled and rolled his eyes.

"Aww c'mon! I dunno 'bout the rest of you, but getting turned to stone used up a lot of energy. I could go with a recharge, you know, in case there's another battle?" Some of the others groaned and shook their heads. Ryo glanced at Tanya, to see her reaction. She didn't scowl with disdain like she normally did at Kento's antics, but almost seemed to be suppressing a smile.


	4. Trael de Nuca

Trael de Nuca

By Mardrena

A passing news helicopter sent a lattice of light and shadow sliding across the room. Dais stared listlessly at the ceiling, not even blinking when the yellowish light shone in his face briefly before shifting away as the helicopter flew over the apartment complex noisily. Car horns blared from the street, police sirens howled in the distance, neighbors gabbed and yelled through the walls. _*We never should have left the Nether Realm*_ Dais thought sourly of the decision made by the others to depart after establishing a new government and eradicating any opposition by Dynasty loyalists. At least in the Nether Realm there weren't annoying traffic helicopters or obnoxiously loud neighbors. There wasn't any refrigeration or electricity there either...but those were luxuries he felt he could have survived without. Unlike the others...

Kayura seemed eager to root herself in the Mortal Realm once more and relive the life the Dynasty had deprived her. Cale didn't seem to care where they stayed, as long as the occasional battle kept him occupied. Sehkmet readily embraced the modern lifestyle, going as far as emulating the actions of the younger Ronin Warriors, especially after the Ronin Leader extended the olive branch. He, more than the others, considered the Elder Ronin friends. Even a few years older, he still retained his youthful hot-headedness and gained a silly idealism to go with it. Ryo had all sorts of grand notions of unity and justice.

Battle held the only justice Dais believed in. The others enjoyed the Mortal Realm, but he felt repulsed by it and often worried it would make him soft. He yearned for conflict such as the last great battle at the Citadel. At least in combat he could stomach his already-thin tolerance for the other Ronin and throw himself against his enemy and overpower them.

Without warning, Dais' thoughts turned to the new allies the Ronin had found in the Thangiens. From what he'd heard, they maintained an almost Spartan-esque utopia where a thin line separated art from battle. He recalled their unofficial ambassador: the lavender haired Amazon called Danae. He never did get to properly thank her for saving his life...

A loud commotion from the alley below disrupted his train of thought. He scowled and sat up in bed and looked out the window and saw a young man being accosted by a group of older, bulkier men. The victim apparently attended one of the neighborhood schools, as evidenced by the drab uniform he wore, and feebly tried to protect his backpack from his attackers.

"Hmm...meh," Dais shrugged and slid off his bed. He grabbed his jacket and headed to the living room. "What the hell are you two doing?!" he demanded when he saw Sehkmet and Cale straddled in very compromising positions over a large plastic sheet covered in colored circles.

"We're exercising our agility and flexibility," Cale said matter-of-factly.

"You should try it!" Sehkmet piped up. Dais wrinkled his nose.

"I think not," he grumbled and walked towards the door leading to the hall.

"Hey, could you spin the little arrow thingie for us? I cant reach it," Sehk asked.

"I'll do no such thing. I'm going out for a walk," Dais slammed the door behind him. The two Elder Ronin blinked at each other and shrugged.

"So what now? I don't think we have anymore extremities available. That's automatic game over isn't it?" Cale asked from where he was arched backwards over Sehkmet and the mat.

"Naw, we just need to get creative. I think I can reach the spinner if I just..." Sehkmet leaned to the left, trying to nudge the arrow with the tip of his chin without tipping over from having his arms and legs crossed uncomfortably. He stretched and tilted to no avail before finally sticking his tongue out and pressing it against the edge of the spinner.

"Did not need to see that," Cale grimaced and looked away.

"Oh thut uh," Sehkmet managed while still having his tongue against the arrow and flicked it enough to send it spinning to a new colored spot.

* * *

"Please, I don't have any money! I was just trying to get home before it got too late!"

"It's already too late for you," a thug snickered as he grabbed the student by the collar and pushed him towards another punk.

"I know you gotta have something valuable in here..." the punk rifled through the student's backpack. The teen wriggled out from the straps and fell against the wall.

"There's books in there, and my calculator. That's all I got, I swear!" The punk tossed the backpack behind him and took a step toward the cowering student. "What more do you want?"

"Hey, look over there!" One of them nodded towards the end of the alley facing the street. The others turned to look at the approaching white-haired man.

"Hey! Long John Silver! Don't think of trying anything stupid!" the tallest thug taunted. The stranger kept his single eye straight ahead, not so much as looking at them. The punks glanced at each other then back at the stranger as he walked past. "Yeah, that's right. Keep moving and mind your own business. Not like you could stand up to the five of us," the tall punk snickered while holding the student up by his shirt.

The white-haired man's gaze snapped to the side. Without warning, he thrust up with his right arm, knocking the student out of the thug's grasp. With his left hand, he grabbed the thug's wrist and pulled his arm up before driving his right elbow into the thug's ribcage. Then he swung up and chopped down on the thug's upper arm with the edge of his hand. The white-haired man grinned upon hearing the muffled crack of bone and the thug's gurgling scream.

The punks gasped at seeing their crony fall limp to the concrete. The white-haired man stood firmly between them and the student. The student groped for his backpack and pulled it towards him then staggered to his feet. "Thank you. You saved my life."

"Don't thank me." The white-haired man looked over his shoulder and grinned. "I was bored. I figured the five of them would be more entertaining." The student backed away warily then turned and bolted. Dais' expression relaxed in relief. _*At least he wont get in the way*_

"Hey!! Haven't you ever heard no good deed goes unpunished!?"

"Who said I was doing a good deed?" The punks eyed him warily as he looked towards them. "The others may prefer honing their combat skills by playing games. I prefer the real thing."

"I hope you prefer real pain too!" The thugs, regaining their boldness, moved to surround him. Dais struck the first blow by landing a whirling kick upside the nearest punk's head. Before the unconscious man fell against the wall, Dais spun to the side and drove his fist under another's rib cage. If they were half as strong as they made themselves out to be, the blow wouldnt have made it that deep. Now only two thugs remained, but instead of having the sense to turn and run, they made a reckless lunge in an effort to pile onto Dais and bear him to the ground.

Dais turned this against them as he grabbed one by the face and flung him back, and the other by the neck and slammed him against the wall. "It would be easy enough, to just squeeze like so, and you'd be lucky if you could eat again, much less walk..." The punk gurgled pitifully and squirmed against Dais' deceptively powerful grip. "But that wouldn't be very Ronin-like, now would it? I'm satisfied you've all learned your lesson, and I trust you'll do yourselves a favor and leave the real villainy to the professionals," Dais snarled before throwing the punk to the side, sending him crashing against his buddy. This time they had the sense to flee.

"Mwa ha ha ha, AH HAH AHAHA!!" Dais indulged himself in a sinister cackle then took a deep breath and composed himself. "Admit it, that *was* refreshing. At least Ryo wasn't here, I don't think he would've approved of the breaking of bones...though now that I think about it...I should have at least dismembered one of them...meh," Dais shrugged and folded his arms over his chest. He didn't hear the shuffling and wheezing from the first downed thug.

Maddened by pain, the hulking youth grabbed a nearby pipe and raised it high. Dais heard the throaty bellow and whirled around in time to see the pipe descending towards his head.

Neither expected to see a beam of red light strike the pipe, turning it molten in seconds. Liquid metal cascaded onto the punk's hand. He shrieked and tried to shake off the burning slag. Dais took a step back when something large descended between them.

Red fibers swished between two metallic legs. Red wing plates folded against the sides of a barrel-shaped chest. White eye lenses glowed and narrowed and a neck made of interlocking metal segments arched back then stretched forward. Metallic lips peeled back, exposing sharp white teeth, and a shrieking bellow exited the mouth. Metal whispered against polished wood as the woman astride the great black Pegasi drew out a sword that seemed to shimmer and extended it so that the tip almost touched the bridge of the thugs nose.

"Sen tak prer az kavi eyen saigre," the lavender-haired woman uttered. Dais found the words at once terrifying and calming. He smirked when he saw a dark spot spread across the fabric of the thug's pants as he soiled himself. The ruffian whimpered before at last fleeing.

Pegasus relaxed and made a grumbling burble as he turned around. The rider dismounted and gently held the rein cord in one hand and stepped towards Dais. "Twice you have saved my life...and I have yet to thank you properly for the first. I am...in your debt," Dais remarked.

"We of Thanged do not regard the preservation of life as a commodity to be measured or ransomed. It is both duty and honor," Chi Chi Lina, Danae stated firmly.

"Oh...okay...guess that makes us even. Soooo...what brings you around these parts?" Dais scratched the back of his head, for some reason feeling awkward in her presence. Danae smiled faintly then averted her gaze. She looked almost uncomfortable.

"Everlasting Mother Yainae wishes me to bring you to Thanged for an audience."

"Really? Huh...well, lemme just go get the others. They're probably still playing-"

"No." Dais blinked in surprise. "I was sent to bring you, and only you."

"Okay..." Dais watched as Danae mounted Pegasus once more and gestured to a spot in the saddle behind her. Pegasus kept his wing down and didnt seem to mind as Dais walked over and clambered up to seat himself behind Danae. He felt even more awkward than before, despite his brutal confidence from his earlier fight. Pegasus lifted his wing and started turning around till he faced the wall of the apartment. He spread both wings and began flapping them. Dust and trash flew away from the ground beneath them as Pegasus rose into the air without aid from his wing thrusters. He moved past a window where inside a man was brushing his teeth vigorously before spitting out into the sink and brushing again, not at all noticing the metallic horse and passengers. Once they cleared the rooftops, the wing blades parted and thrusters fired.

Dais clutched onto Danae's waist tightly then blushed when he realized he was touching her, but the Thangien didnt seem to mind. A barely visible bubble formed around all three of them: the air shield, which Rowen had described once. "I thought you used teleportation!" Dais called over the roar from outside the shield as Pegasus flew through layers of atmosphere.

"Only when transporting large groups!" Danae replied. The air shield started to glow from the intense heat of exit, but held as Pegasus finally erupted into space. Dais couldnt help but stare at the curve of the planet and the glow formed from sunlight shining through the atmosphere they'd just cleared. Cloud belts hung over continents and islands, and Dais just barely made out the shape of Japan. He turned his gaze forward and looked over Danae's shoulder.

If he'd had his other eye, it would've been wide in horror and amazement at the swirling maelstrom of smoke and energy that spanned the size of an entire city. Even though Danae assured him the air shield protected them, he found it difficult to breathe; as if he"d forgotten there *_was_* air to breathe. Pegasus dove through the portal of the great Transgalactic Gate as calmly as if embarking on a hillside trot. All around them ribbons of energy and smoke danced and spiraled. Only a rapidly shrinking void behind them indicated where they'd entered.

Dais looked up and to the side at the stupendous display, unconsciously removing his hands from around Danae's waist. Danae glanced at him over her shoulder. "I wouldn"t loosen your grip if I were you. The gravity shield only supports so much strain if you were to fall, and the last person who became lost mid-gate hasn't been seen in over seventy-three years."

Dais gulped and clasped his arms back around Danae's waist. _*For such a fabled hero, he sure is nervous*_ Dais blinked upon hearing the stray thought. He looked up just in time to see Pegasus turning his gaze back to the front at a rapidly growing void. The crackling and buzzing of the gate tunnel ceased abruptly as the trio flew out into open space once more, this time above a planet with no continents and a much denser atmosphere. The shield around them flickered, and for a second Dais worried it was somehow failing. _*Just reinforcing it for re-entry*_ Dais wrinkled his nose. It sounded like his voice, but was that him thinking to himself?

The shield glowed once more, white-hot this time, and the air outside roared. Flames turned orange then bright red, and despite the shield, Dais felt as if he were cooking, but the sensation ceased suddenly as the air outside boomed and Pegasus soared over rolling hills.

The wing plates split further, calling to mind the flaps of an airliner. Pegasus was trying to shed the speed of re-entry. The passing terrain miles below became less and less of a blur and Dais was able to distinguish dense forests and winding rivers. Then, still hundreds of miles ahead, he saw an impossibly perfect white square: The Walls of Bainshaebo.

He almost choked as the wind hit him when Pegasus let down his shield, but by now they were traveling about the speed of a car, otherwise the force wouldve knocked him out of the saddle. Danae had the consideration to lean to the side slightly so her long lavender hair wasnt batting him in the face. It also gave him a better view of the city as they approached.

Dais jumped in his seat upon hearing the high pitched whistles and looked up at the shining shapes wheeling towards Pegasus. Danae didnt seem bothered, and Pegasus warbled a greeting to the three new Pegasi and their riders. A blue and white one approached from the left, and Dais saw a man with long blue hair. A multi-colored Pegasi glided to the right, and in the saddle sat a woman with hair of as many colors as her mount. The third Pegasi boasted an orange hide and seemed much younger than the rest. The copper-haired girl in the saddle waved energetically.

"You're back early!" the man called.

"I was fortunate enough to catch him alone; otherwise the others would want answers!" Danae called back. Dais wasnt sure what she meant by that, but kept his gaze on the city as they passed over exquisite estates and past the four colossal landmarks Ryo had mentioned, as well as the fifth which dwarfed all others. The Pegasi flew low enough over brick streets for Dais to see people pointing and whispering among themselves. He'd arrived with far less fanfare than the Ronin embassy had, but apparently warranted just as much gossip.

Pegasus banked to the side sharply, wheeling around and gliding down to land in the spacious courtyard garden of a sprawling mansion. He fanned his wings before settling down on all fours. He grunted and folded his wings against his side, allowing Danae and Dais to dismount. The other three riders landed close by and likewise dismounted.

"He's cute!" the youngest rider piped up suddenly. The older woman elbowed her sharply.

"Australa, quiet yourself," she muttered. Dais raised an eyebrow.

"DaiTakin, my siblings: Azuro, Aurora, and Australa," Danae gestured to each, and they bowed respectfully. "I will leave you in their care for now. I must consult with Yainae in the meantime. Luktikuk," she said before departing. Apparently Dais would have to wait a bit longer before finding what all this concerned...

"I'm assuming it was night when Danae arrived. I can't imagine you've had anything to eat yet. Would you join us for our midday meal?" Azuro invited and gestured to a door.

"Of course, I would be honored."

"The honor is ours for having your company," Aurora commented and led the way inside. The Pegasi seemed content to mill about the courtyard, either munching on plants or sitting down for naps after their flights. Dais followed behind Azuro, but couldnt help but notice the way Australa was looking at him through the thick coke-bottle glasses she wore.

_*I wonder if the others notice Im gone...*_

* * *

"It's pretty clear I have the upper hand now."

"So it would seem..." Sehkmet grumbled from where he sat across from Cale.

"You might as well save yourself the shame and admit defeat. Everything you've done has been for naught. Face it;** I OWN YOU**!!" Cale declared and pointed across the cardboard square laid out over the floor. "So come on, declare bankruptcy already."

Sehkmet didnt reply immediately and thumbed his chin as he looked at the board. "No. The game's not over just yet," he calmly stated.

"What?! You're just being a sore loser! There's no earthly way you could possibly recover! I own all but two properties, have hotels on all of them, _*and*_ I control all four railroads! You have five dollars left, all your properties are mortgaged, you already passed Go, and you're a hairbreadth from landing on Park Place. Kayura, come talk some sense into him and convince him to just give up!" Cale turned around in his seat when he saw the Staff Bearer walk past.

_*I'm*_ going to the laundry room to meditate. I can't stand it in here with all the noise you two are making," she stated and shut the door behind her. Cale wrinkled his nose in confusion then turned back to look at Sehkmet.

"Well? You made your decision yet?" he demanded and folded his arms over his chest.

"I'm weighing my options," Sehkmet replied calmly.

"What options!? You have no options! Arrrgh!" Cale raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I wish Dais were here. At least with him you could tell if he's cheating!

* * *

No servants attended them, for all the size and space of the estate. A wide cauldron of soup rest in a wrought bronze tripod over a crackling flame covered with a fine wire mesh. A short ceramic wall surrounded the fire and the tripod, and attached to the tripod were hooks and loops for holding bowls and the ladle. The four of them sat on a circular couch built into the floor, rather than at chairs surrounding a table. They had napkins spread across their laps and ate from insulated bowls using spoons. Dais paused between mouthfuls to gaze around at the room.

"You know, I expected customs to be radically different from those of Earth, but they're not. I feel as relaxed as if out in the wilderness sitting around a campfire," he commented.

"That's the idea," Azuro said and lowered his bowl. "It's called a contemplation circle. It's designed to evoke equality and unity among the family, as well as remind us of our nomadic heritage where nothing was more powerful than the knowledge shared by voice around a fire.

"Ahh..." Dais nodded and stirred his stew. Indeed, the environment allowed for relaxed contemplation. Satisfied with the explanation, he raised his spoon to his mouth but paused when he glanced across the way and saw Australa looking at him.

She resembled more of a nerdy girl than a fierce warrior queen, and right now she was giving Dais a look that he'd recalled from seeing girls pine and fawn at Sage. She'd set her emptied bowl in one of the bronze loops and had her elbows on her knees with her fingers woven together under her chin. Dais blinked and glanced from side to side uncertainly. Australa's shoulders rose then sank as she took a deep breath and let out a fluttering sigh.

"I envy Danaetanera for finding such a handsome and mysterious warrior as a potential pairmate," she breathed.

Without warning, Aurora raised her arm and brought the side of her fist down sharply on Australa's head, the latter protesting loudly. "Australapaela!!!"

"Don't you have a commission you're supposed to be working on?" Azuro narrowed his eyes.

"Not until next-" Australa rubbed the top of her head with both hands.

"NOW!"

"Okay, fine..." Australa snorted and climbed out of the circle. She glanced over her shoulder one last time and winked at Dais before leaving the room.

"What did she mean by 'pairmate'?!" Dais exclaimed, looking very worried.

"I'm sorry, DaiTakin, but that is something I am not at liberty to discuss at the moment. The Everlasting Mother will explain further when she's finished consulting with Danae," Azuro shook his head. Aurora glanced to the side when she heard a door open.

"Speaking of which..." The three looked up at Danae as she approached the circle.

"Yainae will speak with you now," she said simply and nodded at Dais. Yainae had to be her mother, so the title Everlasting was likely just a ceremonial flourish. Something in Dais' gut told him he wasn't going to enjoy this, and seeing the mix of anxiety and discomfort on Danae's face didn't help. Danae gestured to the open door that led to a darkened patio. He bowed at Azuro and Australa before taking his leave, and as he passed by Danae, she glanced at him.

_*You've faced worse...*_ Dais told himself as he entered the patio and shut the door behind him. Heavy curtains blocked out most of the sunlight save for a small gap where a veiled figure stood. Dais took a step towards the figure before stopping a few feet away.

"You are no doubt wondering why you were brought here. Why you, and only you," a weathered voice spoke. "You have questions, and are expecting answers, but before I give them to you, I require an answer in return. How ended the war?" Dais wasnt sure how to reply to that.

"Uh...which war?" He'd participated in many. The figure shifted in place.

"The Great War. The war my husband took part in before he came to this world," Everlasting Mother Yainae looked at Dais with amethyst eyes and a face lined deep with age.

* * *

Cale stared down at the game board with a sour expression the likes of which had never been seen before. Across from him, Sehkmet sat on the floor with his elbows resting on his thighs and knuckles against his cheeks looking very much the canary-sated cat.

"I have no idea how you managed to do that. I don't want to know how you did it."

* * *

"So his absence did not impact the outcome. I am satisfied to hear that. Ander always fretted that his departure would have caused irreparable harm to his allies."

Yainae looked at the slit in the curtains again. "For every two years that pass on Oldworld we age but one, and of those, I number seventy-two." Dais eye widened in shock, but before he could comment, Yainae looked at him again. "I was already far in years when I Paired with Ander, and typically Thangiens are slow to age, but...Ander's passing took much strength from me. I will not live to see my children die in the End Tide; in that there is both blessing and burden. Despite this, I wish to see the future of this ancient line secured until then, and beyond.

"In any other family, the eldest daughter would ascend to the rank of Everlasting Mother, but Aurora ceded her claim to matriarch when she paired with T'plaureth. It is not as if he is a poor pairmate. One could ask for no nobler son, and there is no finer weapons-master, but our culture is one of rigid tradition, and only a couple born of Bainshaebo can lead a House."

The back of his mind told him where this was headed, but he wanted to be polite and let her finish. Yainae took a step towards him and clasped her hands over her stomach. "Being a Morindae, however, would exempt you from those requirements. Such a pairing would serve two purposes: to unite Thangien with Ronin Warrior, as well as Thanged with the Oldworld. Our rival, the Sixth House of Eklan, is jealous of our position. Before the return of Paigasurin, we ranked only Third, and since then we have ascended to First, and therefore are next in line for Grand; the House of the Watch-Rider. Already House Eklan makes claim to leadership of House St'lur. It would darken Ander's soul if he knew the son of his old enemy controlled his family. The only way to avoid either merging or ritual combat is to bestow my blessing upon you. DaiTakin...If I were to offer you the hand of Danaetanera, would you accept it in Pairing?"

Dais didn't answer immediately. Here, the aging matriarch was offering him the hand of her daughter in marriage, as well as a position of power among the warrior nobility of the city. First Contact with the Ronin Warriors had brought much honor to Danae's family, and a pairing between a Ronin Warrior and one of Thanged's greatest heroes would bestow even greater prestige. Dais recalled the battle at the forest's edge when the beastly Chaizar had him at his mercy, and Danae had poured all of her soul into hurling her sword across an impossible distance to impale and disable the Mutant Warlord. Dais took in a deep breath and prepared to speak.

"I will not *_take_* your daughter's hand, as it isn't something that can be seized or awarded. I will *_earn_* it." Yainae looked taken aback slightly but remained silent. Thangiens believe that passion is as much a part of existence as purpose, but marriage for the sake of politics serves no purpose without passion. Battle is the only politics I abide by, and if I am to Pair with Danaetanera, it will be as peers. If there is an enemy who would oppose me, I will fight him, and I will strike him down! I will do what*_ever_* it takes until I prove myself every bit her equal!!" Dais was surprised by the fervor with which he spoke and unclenched his fists.

"When I met her for the first time, and watched her ride into the thick of battle...I was astonished, and humbled, that she faced the enemy with such ferocity. She threw all of her fury against the Dynasty, with no heed to her own safety. Completely fearless, completely selfless...she embodied the soul of the battle." Dais shook himself out of his recollection and looked Yainae in the eyes. "I will accept Danae's hand only after I have faced the one who would dare make claim to her as if she were a trophy, and beaten him soundly. That is the only Pairing Danaetanera is worthy of, and that is the only way she'll accept me."

Yainae stared at him with a neutral expression before closing her eyes and smiling faintly. "Well said, DaiTakin. I think Ander would have approved..." Dais smiled confidently. "You remind me of someone..." Dais frowned in confusion, and confusion turned into surprise as Yainae reached up and grabbed his chin with a wrinkled hand, turning his face to the left and up slightly. She squinted as she turned his face to the right. Dais couldnt do anything but stand there and remain quiet, not sure at all what the matriarch was looking for.

Yainae gasped in exasperation and released her hold on Dais' chin. "Bah, I am old, and my memory fails me at times." Yainae shrugged the sleeves of her gown and clasped her hands over her chest again. "You will spend the night here. Azuro will show you to your room. In the morrow I will turn you over to my pair-son T'plaureth for training. The Trael de Nuca requires that both combatants fight as equals, and I doubt you will be able to utilize your armor's power in combat. You will have only your natural strength to rely on. It will do you good to be sufficiently prepared for the rigors of the Trael, and there is no better teacher than T'plaureth."

* * *

A man pushed open the door to the laundry room, bracing his basket against his side as he walked towards an unused machine. He paused when he saw a woman sitting cross-legged atop one of the machines with her eyes closed. Her hands were clasped in her lap and a long black staff tipped with a golden winged ornament rest across her thighs. She remained completely still as the loud humming of the washing machines drowned out her breathing.

The man stared at her for a few seconds before flipping open the lid and dumping his clothes in. He scooped a cupful of detergent out and sprinkled it inside the chamber then closed the lid and checked the settings on the panel. The machine started filling with water, but the woman remained undisturbed. The man looked at her once more before leaving the room.

* * *

Dais couldnt recall the last time in his recent lifetime he'd experienced perfect quiet; quiet being the lack of car horns and loud neighbors. Outside, native insects sang in the light of the two moons and flitted among the flowering bushes outside the window. Dais lay on his back with his arms folded behind his head. He'd draped his jacket and pants over a bedpost. He could feel himself becoming increasingly relaxed, and felt ready to slip into a deep and comfortable sleep.

That was until he heard the faintest of cracks, a sound that disrupted the nocturnal music from the courtyard. Immediately alarms went off in Dais' senses, and he sat up in bed, swinging his legs to the side and setting his feet to the floor. He heard another crack, then a few seconds later another. Dais slid off the bed and backed up to a corner of the room. He placed his fingertips against the painted walls and his form shimmered, blending into the color and texture. As the footsteps became louder and more deliberate, Dais projected a reflection of himself sleeping on the bed, as he almost was before. He tensed and waited to see if his suspicions were correct.

The Thangiens didn't use glass or bars to cover their windows, only curtains and sliding panels of treated wood in the event of rain. Dais had left the panels open, so all the intruder had to do was quietly part the curtains and creep inside. Dais couldn't make out many features in the shadows, only that he was young and male with dark hair. The intruder stalked towards the bed and the figure sleeping over the linens. Dais circumvented the man silently, maintaining the glamour that concealed him. The illusory Dais snorted and shifted sleepily. The intruder's lips peeled back in a sadistic grin and he pulled a long dagger from a scabbard at his waist. He raised it high then plunged it downward at the sleeping man. The blade plunged through the linens and into the down-stuffed mattress. The man recoiled upon seeing his target vanish suddenly.

Dais dismissed the glamour and reached out and tapped the intruder on the shoulder. "You missed," he snickered then punched the man in the jaw. The man reeled from the blow, but recovered disturbingly quick and leapt back, retrieving his dagger and readying it for another thrust. Dais grabbed his jacket and furled it at his side. Just as the attacker lunged, Dais looped his jacket around the man's arm and twisted it sharply, forcing him to drop the weapon. The man straightened his fingers and slipped his hand out from the vice, something no human would've been able to accomplish, and jabbed at Dais throat. Dais leaned out of the way in time and lashed out with his left leg, belting the man in the stomach. He staggered back but didn't show any signs of ceasing his efforts, crouching for another lunge.

The man paused when he heard voices coming from outside the room and glanced at the door. He grinned at Dais again and made some sort of salute before pouncing out the window, leaving only the billowing curtains in his wake. Dais tossed his jacket to the side, panting heavily.

"DaiTakin!! We heard sounds of battle!" Azuro burst into the room, followed by Aurora and a sleepy Australa. Aurora gasped upon seeing the scarred bed and the dagger on the floor.

"I think my competition tried to eliminate me. Nothing I couldn't handle, though," Dais scoffed and picked the dagger up, tossing it up and down and catching it neatly.

"Only Rolinilo would do such a thing! He no doubt saw us escorting you," Aurora stated.

"If I hadn't the element of surprise, he would've snuffed me for sure. He's a fighter, even without resorting to treachery. I'll give him that. Hearing you scared him off, I think, but before he fled he made some sort of gesture...with his hand raised like this and fingers straight..."

"I know what gesture you speak of..." Azuro and Aurora stepped to either side to make way for the Everlasting Mother as she entered the room. "His father, Roland, made the same sign after attempting to assassinate Ander in much the same way, cycles ago. I am relieved that you, like Ander, prevailed. You have proved more of your worth, Darian Dreamrider..." Dais smirked at the praise, and the fact that hed gained a unique title among the Thangiens.

"Can't you just sanction the Pairing and silence House Eklan's opposition?"

"That is no longer an option, as DaiTakin has consented to undergo the Trael de Nuca. It is his wish, and I am required to abide by it," Yainae replied to Aurora.

"But he's too cute to die!" Australa whined. Azuro growled at her sharply, making her chirp and cringe. Before Dais could inquire any further, Yainae shooed her children out.

"Return to sleep, DaiTakin. He will not try again until the Trael itself..." With that, the Everlasting Mother closed the door behind her.

Dais slowly placed the dagger on a table and walked back to the bed. He stretched out on his back and folded his arms behind his head again. Then he glanced at the open window. He rolled to the side and reached over, brushing the curtains to the side before pulling the panels down.

* * *

Ryo peeked out from behind the corner of the padded wall and took deep breaths, anticipating another attack. He heard movement from ahead and readied his beam pistol. Well, actually it was more of a gun-shaped piece of plastic with a blinky light in the muzzle. The entire situation required some degree of imagination. Ryo scowled down at his teammates crouched by some padded blocks. "Why am I partnered with you two again?"

"To make up for the years of torture endured during the Dynasty Wars?" Cale replied.

"To promote fellowship between ex-Warlords and Ronin?" Sehkmet added. Ryo raised an eyebrow skeptically before returning his attention to the front.

"I can't believe I got talked into doing this..." he muttered and kept scanning for any advances by the opposing team.

"Well it was either this or Rowen's recommendation, and I'm not sure I like the idea of getting hit by tiny globes of paint," Sehkmet reminded.

"They're totally cheating having Roxi on their team. I swear that girl can shoot through walls." As if proving Cale's assumption, the sensor on his left shoulder beeped. "Aww, you see?"

"She's using the walls to rebound the light signal. That means they've split up... I wish Dais were here, at least he's a better shot than the two of you put together. Where is he anyway?"

Cale scowled at the comment but Sehkmet didn't look at all offended. "I dunno. Last we heard from him he was going for a walk and that was last night," he commented.

"Really? Huh...that sounds weird...oop!" Ryo crouched and fired around the corner several times, the pistol making a digitized *pow*. "Hey! Kento! I got you!"

"No you didnt!!" a voice called from within the range.

"Yes I did! Check the scoreboard!"

"Awww..."

Sehkmet and Cale glanced at each other again then shrugged. Then the sensor on Cale's stomach beeped. "Awww! Awww..."

* * *

Dais had to settle for a militaristic few hours of sleep rather than long refreshing slumber due to the attempt on his life, but it at least served to put him on edge. He leaned against a wooden rail and stared out at the courtyard where the family Pegasi lounged. Northern Light curled up on the ground, and Azuro's mount ate grain out of a pail. Pegasus was curiously absent, but Australa's companion pranced about the courtyard, nipping playfully at the blue Pegasi's tail before it snorted and shooed it away. The young Pegasi spotted Dais by the rail and trotted over. Dais leaned back slightly as the Pegasi thrust its nose at him, as if expecting something. Dais cautiously reached up and stroked its face and patted it. The Pegasi narrowed its eye lenses angrily then snorted and turned away.

"...why do I get the feeling he wanted food?"

"Because he likely did. Pegasi remain quite fond of snacks, and Sandstorm likes to charm extra bits from visitors." Dais turned to look at the speaker. His single eye widened in fright upon seeing the wiry white-furred figure with a thin tufted tail curling behind his legs and dainty golden hooves in place of toes. Brownish eyes blinked at Dais over a protruding muzzle with large nostrils. Pointed ears flicked back and white bangs dangled around a single long horn poking out from the middle of the forehead.

Dais had no idea why he said what he said, only that he must've been scared witless to have blurted out: "HORSE DEMON FROM THE UNDERWORLD!!"

Hooves clacked against the wooden deck as the creature charged towards him. It skidded to a stop then whirled around on one hoof, kicking Dais in the gut with the other and sending him flying out into the courtyard, landing next to Northern Light, startling him. "Not horse! Unicorn!!" the creature snapped and swished its tail angrily.

"Be at peace, T'plaureth. DaiTakin obviously has never met a member of your esteemed race before, otherwise he would not have made such grievously insulting remarks," Aurora approached and glanced down at Dais, who curled up from the impact.

"Yeah*_cough_* my bad...uuugh." T'plaureth huffed and lashed his tail.

"He's definitely an Oldworlder, so I suppose I can forgive his ignorance."

"At least you had the decency to kick above the belt. Heck knows I've been kicked below enough to last me a lifetime...*_cough_**_cough_*" Aurora and T'plaureth glanced at each other then back at Dais as he staggered to his feet and rubbed his stomach.

"If a kick like that didn't knock all the wind out of you, you'll be more than a match for Rolinilo. I heard he attacked you while you slept. I'm impressed that you outwitted him without use of your secondary armor," T'plaureth folded his arms over his chest.

"Yeah...but armor certainly is handy to have most of the time..." Dais straightened himself and got a better look at Aurora's pairmate. He certainly understood now why Yainae was so concerned since her eldest daughter chose such an unconventional husband. T'plaureth wore tight black leggings and a studded leather war harness over his shoulders and chest. Different weapons hung from loops along his waist and a large bladed weapon hung over his back.

"I will leave you two for now. I will return with refreshments later," Aurora nodded and went inside. T'plaureth waved a four-fingered hand in the air as she left then looked at Dais.

"So, you're one of the legendary Morind de Witheren? Yainae's very shrewd indeed to counter Ekaea's efforts with a pairing for Danae. Rolinilo's every bit as ruthless and savage as his father was, but you seem more than capable. Still, you will require a weapon to use in the Trael." T'plaureth reached up and undid his harness then held the leather straps out to the side. "Take your pick." Dais studied each of the weapons, which ranged from conventional swords to short daggers like the one used against him last night. His eye settled on one that looked very familiar. He gingerly reached out and unhooked it from the harness and weighed it in his hand.

The spiked head stretched down from a cord, but a segment of the base also seemed capable of extending into a blunt weapon, also attached by a cord to the main grip. "It's called a b'drasitsi; jawbreaker. You seem like you would be very comfortable using it?"

"Indeed..." It seemed to function like his nunchucks and his morning star in one. T'plaureth clipped his harness back into place and pulled out a broadsword.

"Let us begin then. I...might recommend using your secondary armor for this session. I'm not known as the finest weapons-master for merely kicks," T'plaureth smirked.

* * *

While the session commenced, two figures stood at the far end of the courtyard, seemingly unnoticed by anyone. One wore brown pants and a white shirt with a burgundy colored vest over that. Wild reddish hair hung down her back and poked out in all directions on the top of her head. Thick black boots covered her legs up to the knee. Her companion wore blue and white robes and a hood draped over her light brown hair. A tight corset of woven linen strips circled her waist, and she wore sandals on her feet.

"He bears an uncanny resemblance to Gage. You suppose it's a coincidence?" the younger woman asked. A low rumble rolled through the air as the taller woman chuckled.

"If you were my age you'd know there are no such things as coincidences. **All things happen for a reason**." That last sentence came out as a deep echo, even though her lips didn't move.

"If I were your age I'd be as old as my mother," the younger woman narrowed black eyes with hazel pupils. The older woman glanced at her with black eyes with orange pupils.

"You could do with a few more millennia of wisdom, and more than just appearance."

"So which one will you favor today?"

"The strongest, of course."

"Well...what if Rolinilo proves stronger?"

"**He wont.** Phitdaitiarona has touched him. Your mother knows full well what would happen if he were permitted to pair with Vai Stel Vethu's daughter."

"So you _*do*_ favor Dreamrider?"

"No...he has no need of intervention. He came this far. It is up to him to go further."

"Then, as you would say, 'we shall see'..." the two continued to observe the sparring.

* * *

"So...what are you?" Dais asked as he took a swig out of a blown-glass flask. T'plaureth raised an eyebrow from where he nibbled grains out of a pouch he'd strapped around his head. He unbuttoned it and hung it around his neck.

"Thangien." Dais kept staring at him. "Oh, ah, my kind are often referred to as Native Thangiens. We're considered among the oldest races on this world since weve been here for eons before men came to Thanged. We typically don't deal with those who dwell in Bainshaebo, as we dwell in the forests beyond the plains of Kundain."

"You're the exception?"

"When I was a youngling, I came in contact with Aurorakhan. She was charmed by me, and I entranced by her. Vai Stel Vethu was more than a bit surprised when his daughter brought a Native home with her, but he was quite tolerant about us being friends.

"My clan, however, wasn't. Dais lowered his flask and listened as T'plaureth continued solemnly. "They beat me and left me for dead out on the plains. They claimed men were evil, and that I'd been tainted by contact with Aurora. Somehow, she found me out there before vitreelas circled in, and tended to my wounds. Ander welcomed me into the House as if I was his own, and I knew that when we both came of age, I wanted to Pair with Aurora.

"Ohhh DaiTakin, if you would have _*seen_* him in his life! Ander Vai Stel Vethu was a man like no other, a hero above all heroes. It is a lasting honor that I knew him in my youth, and that he supported us so steadfastly. Not since has there been one like him: born of the Oldworld, but with as fierce and passionate a heart and as sharp a mind as any born of Thanged."

"Ryo mentioned once that Aurora's surname is Ru Ru Tiki...and Danae called Pegasus Ru Ru Tiki...it means 'First of the First'. I take it pairings with Natives aren't common?"

"We are the First. It was a situation back then much like it is now, that males vied for Aurora's hand in order to strengthen their own Houses. When Aurora refused them all and announced she wanted to Pair with me...well lets say it caused more than a stir. One male in particular challenged me outright to a Trael de Nuca, and it enraged me that he would wish Aurora such pain out of vanity and spite. I met him in battle, and though he tried desperately to outmatch me, I struck him down and threw him into the Pit.

"It is an incontrovertible law among Thangiens that blood proves any right. No one else could argue that Aurora and I were intended for each other. Ander himself once said love transcends all things; culture, race, and world. He knew for himself quite well that struggle."

"When you said...'threw him into the Pit'...what did you mean by that?"

"The Pit of Spikes. It's intended to emulate the Pit of Blood, where Witheren sends all unworthy souls." T'plaureth took notice of Dais' blank expression. "A Trael de Nuca is a fight to the death. You didn't know this? I hope you have no qualms about killing Rolinilo."

"Oh, no not at all..." _*I'm just not sure I like the idea of potentially dying...*_

T'plaureth! Has he been trained?" Australa hollered as she entered the courtyard with Azuro and Aurora following.

"He's become quite accustomed to a jawbreaker, yes. Why?" Tplaureth stood up.

"We've been summoned to the field! Rolinilo cast his glove this morning!" Aurora said.

"Wait, I'm supposed to fight *_today_*?! Aren't I allowed preparation or something?"

"This *_was_* your preparation, it seems. You can go ahead and keep that. It's already warm to your grip," T'plaureth nodded towards the b'drasitsi. Dais picked up the weapon and stood.

"A heavy meal would weigh you down mid-fight, but Aurora knows how to make an invigorating drink out of chorinae and vouwyn. It should help," Azuro mentioned.

"I'll go look for Danae. She's required to be present during the match..." Australa ran off.

"You can use my steed, Amerure, to ride to the field. I will not wish you luck, DaiTakin. Rolinilo is also a student of mine, and as vile as he's proven himself, I'll take no joy in watching him die. All I will say that the Goddesses be with you. Thangiens say that Roth embodies victory in all things, and Witheren empowers the righteous in battle. Eyurodin grants cunning and innovation, and Ritho blesses the resulting family. I would like to have you as a pair-brother."

"Um...Thanks." While the family members hurried with their preparations, Dais wandered about the courtyard. Everything said to him in his time on Thanged whirled through his mind. The House of St'lur had such high hopes and confidence for him, yet he found little in himself. He passed by a sheltered area of the garden and paused when he saw someone out the corner of his eye. He looked to the side and saw Danae kneeling by a pond. Across from her knelt a life-sized statue of a woman wearing flowing robes with one hand stretched over the water.

Now he remembered clearly why he'd agreed to fight. Not only was there the promise of rank and status among Thanged, or the honor of union with such a peerless, fearless warrior, but the prospect of starting a family of his own. This was as close as love as someone like him could feel, and such a victory would prove that there was life after evil.

"You can concede, if you choose." Dais jumped upon hearing the voice and turned around to see Yainae. "I will talk to her when it is time." Dais looked over his shoulder at Danae and frowned. He gripped the handle of the jawbreaker tightly. Yainae nodded. "The Silver-Haired Maiden told me you were touched by Phitdaitiarona once. If you have come to this despite that, you are more than worthy of her. You will prevail. Go now. Azuro will escort you."

"Skywrath, come!" Azuro throat-clicked to his mount. The purple Amerure trotted over as well, sensing the need. Dais glanced once more at Danae before walking over to the Pegasi. "Skywrath is worried. He says Pegasus told him you were nervous."

"Pegasi say a lot of things."

"Be at peace, DaiTakin. If you love her, that is all the strength you will need," Azuro comforted and saddled up. Dais paused while seating himself.

*_Thats right...I *_do*_ love her_.* Azuro throat-clicked again and the two Pegasi took off into the air, flying over the city towards a circular-shaped complex that resembled the Coliseum. Already people were flooding the stands to watch, as if gathering for the Super Bowl. Despite the words of confidence from the family, Dais stomach roiled in anticipation. Skywrath and Amerure glided down to an area designated with the double-crescent and lightning bolt that was House St'lur's insignia. Azuro nodded at Dais one last time before he took off on Skywrath with Amerure following behind. Dais looked about the stands, wondering if the rest of the family had arrived yet. He squinted and spotted Yainae taking her seat high in the stands.

He almost didnt recognize the woman seated beside her, wearing a sleeveless dress and cloth wrapped around her neck. She wore her lavender hair in a sort of beehive style. Their eyes met, and despite the distance between them, they saw each other's soul. *_She was worried for him.*_ She had hoped so badly that Yainae would approve their Pairing immediately, but he chose the battle. She wanted him very much to live and he wanted very much to be with her.

"DaiTakin, I presume?" A man chirped officiously. Dais glanced at him.

"Yes?" The reedy looking man waved at him.

"You will be required to shed your skin of metal for the match. Typically, a natural-born Thangien is far stronger than an Oldworlder, but I've heard youre not a typical Oldworlder." Dais' heart sank. There went his one advantage. He sighed in disappointment but complied with the edict nonetheless and dismissed his sub-armor. He slipped his jacket off and flung it back towards the banner. T'plaureth had said they'd be required to fight as equals...

"The Watch-Rider himself is here as well? Wow, this must be important..." Dais commented.

"Of course. Torkenantakin has a vested interest in the outcome, as whoever emerges victorious will be next in line to Grand House. They will lead Thanged after the Entide," the man stated as he watched King Torke take his seat in the stands along with his many children.

"Ekaea looks confident in her son," Aurora remarked as she glanced to the side at the booth where House Eklan sat. The younger and more vibrant matron of the Sixth House surveyed the arena smugly. At her side sat Rolinila, Rolinilo's twin. She looked every bit as condescending.

"Or she could merely be trying to hide the fact that Rolinilo's attack failed. It was her idea, most likely, as he had not been born at the time when Ander was attacked," Yainae sniffed.

"I gave him the flask you made, but I'm not sure anything can ease his nerves. Amerure said he could feel his anxiety," Azuro said as he took his seat next to Aurora.

"Combat will steel him," Yainae intoned as the announcer walked to the middle of the arena and bowed grandly. Dais stood by the St'lur banner with his arms folded and weapon in one hand while the announcer made a flourished speech about House Eklan challenging House St'lur. Across the way, Rolinilo stood with a sword hanging from his belt in its scabbard. He flashed Dais a predatory grin much like he'd given him the night before.

Dais felt his neck become hot with anger, anger that this smug whelp would presume to best him, both on the battlefield and by stealth. The announcer walked off the arena and made a sweeping gesture and gave a loud, shrill barking order. Dais tensed to dash across the arena, but a loud rumbling stopped him. He watched in awe as immense metal plates slid away from the center, leaving only a narrow strip spanning the length of a deep pit.

"...part of me is starting to think Twister wouldnt have been so bad..."

"EEEAYAAAHHH!" Dais snapped his gaze up as Rolinilo charged, making the first move. He drew his sword and slashed wildly, but Dais sprang back easily. He lunged again, but Dais somersaulted over him. Rolinilo whirled around and attacked once more, this time giving more practiced swings. He'd been testing Dais, gauging his reaction time.

"If you hadn't been clambering about like an oaf, you might've finished me off last night. I could hear you even half-asleep!" Dais taunted as he sent the spiked head of the jawbreaker shooting out. Rolinilo deflected with his blade and sniffed.

"It would have been easy enough if you'd died, but at least you'll provide some sport!" Rolinilo shot back and slashed again, displaying some Sweeping Comet moves. He began swinging his blade at his side, charging up for a Cresta's Wheel. Dais remembered that move from Danae, and that it had the capacity to shatter a weapon. Not wanting to lose T'plaureth's gift so early in the fight, he waited until Rolinilo let out a wail then struck. Instead of using the cord to take the force of the blow, Dais swung the weapon up, looping the cord around Rolinilo's wrist much the way he'd done with his jacket the night before, only this time the cord wound too tight for him to merely wiggle loose.

Dais diverted the sword to the side of the path, where the powerful attack caused the blade to embed itself in the strip. Rolinilo growled in rage and reached for his dagger, swinging upward. Dais released the cord and stepped back. "You're going to have to do better than that!" he jeered. Rolinilo's lips spread in a grin again, and Dais blinked in shock when he felt something wet and warm sliding down his forehead. The very tip of the dagger had nicked his scalp, though above his bad eye, at least. While Dais held back, Rolinilo managed to worm his sword out of the plate and lunged again, attacking with both weapons. Dais extended the base cord and swung the blunted end with one hand and the spiked head with the other.

Despite being an intermediate Rait'chian, Rolinilo attacked with the hot recklessness of youth. Dais almost felt as if he were fighting one of the Ronin during the Wars. The Thangien's ruthlessness stirred Dais own battle lust, and he retaliated after being on the defense since the match started. Rolinilo seemed worried now by the veteran warrior's resurgence. A sweeping strike from the spiked head shattered the upper half of Rolinilo's sword, but the Thangien didnt seem at all bothered and tried to shank Dais with the splintered half. Dais was ready for him, however, and as Rolinilo lunged, Dais used the blunt-side cord to push Rolinilos wrist away and the spiked-side cord to snag the sword hilt, yanking it out of the Thangien's grip.

A cheer went up from where House St'lur and their supporters sat. Australa clapped giddily and Yainae nodded in approval. Danae remained expressionless and clasped her hands over her knees. Ekaea and Rolinila scowled but otherwise remained calm.

"I believe its within your right to concede, if you value your hide more than Danae's favor," Dais smirked and swung the blunt rod and spiked head at his sides.

"That's not something I planned on, but I do have a backup still!" Rolinilo switched his dagger to his main hand and tried to get in close enough to stab Dais, but Dais managed to keep him at distance with the cords. He sent the blunt end flying towards Rolinilos face, and while the Thangien staggered out of the way, Dais sent the spiked head towards his wrist.

Bone crunched and the dagger went spinning off into the air and into the spiked pit. Rolinilo yowled like a wounded animal and gripped his broken wrist with his other hand.

"Do you have a backup backup?" Dais flashed him a sadistic grin of his own. Not in years had he relished the prospect of annihilating an opponent in battle. Rolinilo smirked.

"As a matter of fact, I do; one leftover from my father's time. Only one remains, but it'll be enough." Rolinilo reached under his surcoat with his good hand.

Dais heard a metallic click, of the kind hed only heard once before: from Roxi Hirochner.

The report echoed across the arena, and Dais felt something hot pierce his chest, just below the ribcage on his right side. He collapsed to one knee just in time to see Rolinilo discard the antique pistol into the pit. The members of House St'lur jumped to their feet.

"I knew Rolinilo shared his father's malice, but I never imagined he would jeopardize his claim for the sake of spite!" Yainae hissed.

"He knew what he was doing. He knows the Watch-Rider can't intervene during the match!" Azuro glanced at the Watch-Rider's booth, where King Torke looked just as concerned.

"DaiTakin looks gravely wounded. He might not be able to fight back," Yainae commented grimly and glanced at Ekaea, who seemed pleased with the situation.

"I won't accept Rolinilo! I wont have him!" Danae turned her face away.

"If DaiTakin falls, you might not have a choice," Australa fretted.

"It isn't finished yet. Remember the Grace of Witheren: Those who rise will fall, and those who fall will rise. Rolinilo will not enjoy his ill-gotten advantage for long, and DaiTakin is far from defeated," Aurora stated. The House members returned their attention to the fight, and Danae forced her gaze back to Dais as he knelt, bleeding from his stomach and back.

"You Oldworlders think you are so infallible because youre our Ancestral World!" Rolinilo punched Dais in the jaw, knocking him back along the strip. Dais tried to stagger to his feet, but each movement he made sent searing pain through his chest. Rolinilo crouched and lashed out with a leg, kicking the b'drasitsi away from Dais' reach. "I heard you were a Morindae blessed by Witheren herself! How can you be so pathetic compared to me without your precious powers?" Rolinilo brought his heel down hard on Dais shoulder, nearly dislocating it.

Dais didnt say anything, and his single eye stared out into the pit and at the glinting spikes. Several of them were caked with blood from ages old Traels. Was that his fate; after centuries of bloody servitude to the Dynasty, violent redemption, and hard-fought freedom? Rolinilo kicked him upside the head, sending him sprawling onto his back. Now blood streamed into his good eye, nearly blinding him. Numbing cold began spreading through his limbs.

"I should've aimed for your eye. Then you'd be mirrored in death." Rolinilo walked towards him confidently. Dais stared off into the distance again. His blood-blinded gaze found the figure of Danae seated in the stands. He saw her not as the coveted demure princess of House St'lur, but as the wild and fearsome valkyrie hed seen in the Dark Territory.

_*You will have only your natural strength to rely on...*_

"I will complete the circle begun by my father, and exact his vengeance upon the children of Ander Vai Stel Vethu! Danaetanera will make a pretty wife, if a bit willful, but I will break her, just as I broke you!" Rolinilo brought his heel up and aimed to drive it into' Dais wound.

Without warning, Dais blinked out of sight. Rolinilo halted and staggered back, startled. Dais reappeared before him, with the b'drasitsi in hand. The warmth of rage flooded through his body and he pushed himself to his feet. "I understand why the Ronin hated me so much during the wars, and now I can see that I hated myself! You're everything I once was; petty, treacherous, cowardly! You want Danaetanera to sate your vengeance? You don't deserve her at all! Im not sure I do myself, but I'll die before I see you lay a single hand on her!!" Dais screamed and shot the spiked head at Rolinilo, smashing him in the shoulder. Rolinilo reeled from the blow while Dais pulled the weapon back. He sent it shooting out again, this time aiming for his legs, but Rolinilo sprang back nimbly and the spiked head lodged itself in the metal. Dais couldnt tug it loose, since that would waste what little strength he had, and even that was ebbing quickly.

Rolinilo looked triumphant, but he didnt expect Dais to strike with the blunt end. The cord extended the distance and the metal base struck Rolinilo across the face, shattering his jaw. The force of the impact sent him teetering to the side, too far for him to regain his balance. He let out a gurgling scream, first of indignant rage, then of terror as he fell towards the spikes.

The metal plates slid in from the sides and sealed the pit before Dais could see or hear the grisly impact. Just in time, as well, as he would've collapsed himself. He let the b'drasitsi slip from his hand and braced himself against the floor, covering his stomach with his other hand.

A distraught Ekaea fled from the stands, with Rolinila following close behind. Yainae let her breath out in a deep sigh of relief, and Australa cheered ecstatically. Danae stood up abruptly and jogged down the steps onto the floor. She ran towards the St'lur banner and stopped.

Dais wanted so badly to just lie down and sleep, but he saw Danae standing at the end of the arena. He willed himself to rise and began staggering towards her. Part of him didn't want to be hobbling pathetically, so despite his injury he held his arms at his sides and straightened himself as he approached her. With Rolinilo dead, she displayed in her eyes clearly the joy she'd been suppressing through the ordeal. Dais stopped before her then knelt on the ground.

He wasnt sure where the words that came to mind came from, only that he felt compelled to say them. He rubbed his bloodied shirt over his wound with his palm. "In blood, do I prove my worth," he whispered and extended his dripping hand.

Danae reached out with her silken-gloved hand and clasped her fingers around his. "By blood, do I accept you," she stated proudly. They smiled at each other before Dais' eye rolled up in its' socket and he fainted from shock. Danae wrapped her arms around his shoulders and held him up. "He needs tending to!" she called, and medics ran out to them. Danae herself stripped off Dais shirt and used her own skirt to staunch the blood on both sides of the wound.

"You did intervene, after all?" the blue and white-robed woman teased. The red-haired woman chuckled deeply and folded her arms over her chest.

"If anything to get him back on his feet, just as you provided him what to say."

Aurora watched adjacent House families leave their seats. Her gaze drifted along the upper tiers then stopped when she saw two distant figures standing on the top of the highest tier. They seemed to be looking right at her, with eyes of dawn and flame. The younger-looking woman smiled slightly, and the taller one placed her knuckles on her hips and nodded. Auroras heart froze in her chest and she nudged Yainae, but when she looked back, the two figures were gone.

"They saw! They know!" she said to the Everlasting Mother.

"Then *_She_* approves." Yainae nodded slowly. Azuro and Australa had headed down to the floor to help. Danae padded the cut on Dais' forehead with a damp leaf while medics plastered several more Richtho leaves over his stomach and back. She looked down at him tenderly. "Gage...I wonder if you knew your son would come to this," Yainae whispered.

* * *

"Bwuaaaagh..." I don't think Ive felt this exhausted before, not even after a battle," Cale commented and rolled his shoulders as he entered the tiny kitchen of the apartment. Sehk followed behind and yawned just as sleepily. He rubbed his eyes and glanced around the table.

"Where's Dais?"

"I thought he got back before we did."

"Nooo...he wasnt in his room last I checked. Hey Kayura, have you seen Dais?"

"I thought he was with you," the Staff Bearer replied from where she sat at the table eating breakfast.

"You think he spent the night with the Ronin?"

"They would,ve said something if that were the case. Kayura, can you sense him anywhere?"

"Let me see..." Kayura grabbed the Staff and held it straight with both hands. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. The two Elder Ronin remained quiet while Kayura reached out with her senses. She opened her eyes abruptly and looked up. "He's...not on this world..."

"Not on this world!?"

"Then, you mean...he's...dead?" Sehkmet and Cale stared at each other for several seconds.

"I got dibs on his stuff!" Cale shouted and ran towards Dais room.

"I got dibs on his bed!" Sehkmet followed quickly, leaving Kayura in the kitchen.

"Not on this world...he's not on this world..." she pondered and tapped her lip with a finger.

* * *

Dais opened his eye and stared up at the ceiling of his guest room. The linens had been tucked in neatly around his body. He wiggled out and rolled them down to his thighs then leaned to the left and patted the thick bandages covering his midsection. He started unwrapping them, peeling layer and layer of linen back until he exposed the area where Rolinilo shot him. Not a single trace remained, either on the front or back.

"That's good, not like I needed another scar," he muttered and swung his legs to the side. He slipped on his pants and a neat new shirt Aurora had woven especially for him. He put his jacket on then summoned his sub-armor. Just as he was about to turn to leave the room, he saw Danae standing in the doorway, wearing her combat uniform.

"You intend on leaving?"

"Well, yah...I figured I should inform the others about what happened. They're probably worried sick about me. I've been gone for almost four days, I think..."

"Just as well. It will take several weeks of preparation for a proper Pairing ceremony, and you have your duties as a defender to tend to."

"So how are things working out for you and your family?"

"The lowest House in all Bainshaebo is exalted now thanks to House Eklan. The use of an illegal weapon during the fight drove the first nail, but showing the dagger as proof of the assassination attempt proved most damning. Ekaea and Rolinila pay the price for their malice."

"Ah...that's good. Though you shoulda mentioned what he did to the poor mattress. You're probably gonna have to get it repaired, its been leaking down ever since," Dais looked over his shoulder at the bed. When he looked back at Danae, he was surprised to see her taking off her surcoat. All he could do was stand there and watch, his shock increasing as she stripped down piece by piece until her hair draped down around her bare neck and over her chest.

"You have proven yourself my equal in combat, but now we must stand as equals off the battlefield. I would see the man beneath the armor," she stated calmly.

Dais gulped and tried to stop staring. He slowly moved his hand over his chest, where it would take only a gesture to dismiss his armor. He paused, however, when he felt like he should do something else. He reached up to his shoulder and braced his thumb and forefinger against the circular knob. He turned it to the side, and metal clicked as the curved plate slid to the side and the thin plate over his upper arm flipped up. He repeated the procedure for the other shoulder and pulled the breastplate of his sub-armor up over his head then let it fall to the floor.

Danae watched patiently as Dais twisted small metal knobs along the arms and thighs, un-locking intricate metal plates that were designed to, but had never actually been dismantled before. He removed the shin plates and shrugged them to the side of the room, until not a piece of armor remained. Danae didnt say anything still. Dais slowly reached up and slipped his thumb under the stiff fabric of his eye patch, slipping it off his head, exposing the ragged socket.

Danae smiled and met his gaze once more. "Now, we are truly equals."

Dais wrapped his arms around her and leaned towards her, and Danae readily accepted him. They stretched out over the bed and wrapped themselves in the sheets, never minding the bits of down that fluttered away from the movement.

For the first time in his life, since losing his eye, Dais felt complete.

* * *

Sehkmet lounged on the couch and watched TV while Cale ate some cereal at the table. Both of them looked up when they heard the front door open and close, but Kayura was in her room. They turned to the foyer where they heard cheerful whistling. They jumped out of their seats when they saw the white-haired, one-eyed man enter the living room. "Hello all."

"Dais!? Youre alive!" Cale exclaimed.

"Yup, despite some really good efforts," Dais walked over to his room. Sehkmet and Cale grimaced and looked at each other before looking back at Dais.

"Uhh, where you been? We didn't know where you were, and you didn't say anything about being gone for a week!"

"Oh, I might be compelled to share all the juicy details later, but I'm pretty worn out, and I feel like sleeping in my own bed for awhile," Dais shrugged and opened the door. Sehkmet fidgeted nervously and Cale bit his lip. "Guys?" They jumped in their seats again as Dais walked back into the living room. "Where's my stuff?"

"Umm...well, you see..." Sehkmet scratched the back of his head.

"We thought you'd died! Kayura said she couldn't sense you on this world, so we thought-"

"Where. Is. My. Stuff." Dais demanded in a chillingly calm tone and folded his arms over his chest. Sehkmet started rubbing the tips of his fingers together.

"Well, the shelter down the street was accepting donations..."

"And we figured the people would *_really_* appreciate the help, so-"

"Guys, give me back my stuff *_right_* now or else I'll show you what vthiasak means."

"Let's not be so hasty, Dais. I mean admit it, most of your crap was...well...crap."

"We'll chip in to get you new stuff. I mean, now that you're back and all."

"Either get my stuff back or I'm going to neuter you with my bare hands."

"*_THATS_* what that word means?!" Cales eyes popped wide open.

"Yup. So why don't I start with Sehk, since I doubt he plans on having kids anytime soon," Dais stepped towards the serpentine Ronin.

"What?! Wait, no! I plan on having kids! I plan on having lots of kids!"

"Ohh ho ho, not after _*I*_ get through with you." The two Elder Ronin glanced at each other again before bolting out the door, with Dais at their heels following fiercely. "I'll teach you to give away my stuff! Come back here you cowards! Sehkmet, come face your fate!"

"Noooooooo!!"

Back inside the apartment, Kayura stood by the doorway and listened to the sounds of Dais chasing the two unfortunate Elder Ronin up and down the complex stairs. She'd sensed Dais return to the planet, and knew when he'd arrived at the apartment, but something felt different with him that she couldn't confirm until now.

It was love.


	5. Unarmed but Still Dangerous

Unarmed but Still Dangerous

By Mardrena

A group of police officers loitered just outside one of the district stations, discussing what to do with their evening now that their shifts ended. One of them looked up when he spotted a female cop leaving the station and walking down the street. "Whoa, when'd she transfer here?"

The woman made no effort to return the attentions of the officers, ignoring them as she continued walking. Little more than a block away from the station, she ducked into a sheltered alley. She turned to face the brick wall of a building and reached out with a finger, first touching the rough surface, then *_dipping_* her finger into it as if touching a pool. The brick started to ripple, and the woman pulled downward, forming a glowing violet scar several inches long. She then began moving her arm in a circular motion, using her finger to widen the scar until it formed a portal the size of a dinner plate. Violet mist swirled and a shadowy shape appeared.

"I have bad news. Only half are kept here. The rest were sent to a forensics lab in Tokyo."

"Good girl. You're learning the importance of thoroughness, now. Do not concern yourself with the missing half. I will make arrangements to procure them later. Order the attack and have your agents stand by until you see the opportunity arise to enact the plan. Actually *_eliminating_* the Ronin would go a long way to redeeming yourself, but the primary goal is to secure the remains. Do *_not_* fail in that," the shadowy shape narrowed glowing violet eyes.

"As you command," the woman nodded solemnly and waved a hand over the portal, restoring the brick wall to its previous state.

* * *

Brianna Johansen closed the door to the Koji residence behind her, slipping off her shoes and nudging them onto a mat. She barely went two steps further when a large form stepped out of the shadows to block her path. Black lips peeled back over large white teeth, and a rough pink tongue curled up in a gaping maw. Then the lips sealed just as quickly and friendly brown eyes looked up at her. "Hello there, Whiteblaze! Oh it's so nice to see you!" Britania knelt down and rubbed the tiger's head and ears. The hulking feline rumbled in a pleased purr. The Koji residence was the only one Britania knew of that had a guard *_cat_*. "I'll be upstairs in the study. Keep working on your scary face. That last one was good!" With a final pat, Britania stood up and headed for the stairs. Whiteblaze returned to his sleeping mat and curled back up. Britania nudged the door to the study open. "Hi! I came like you asked-ooh!"

Rowen sat next to Mia behind the desk, and Kayura stood off to one side. "Come on in, Brianna. Take a seat, if you'd like," Mia offered and gestured to one of the two chairs infront of the desk. A large white tiger didn't make her feel nearly as nervous as being in the same room as some of the more prominent members of the Ronin team, and when Brianna seated herself, she did so timidly. "We called you here because we need your help with something."

"We need you to try and remember the chant Rona used to regenerate Anubis," Rowen said.

"Me? What about her? She was right next to Rona," Britania pointed at Kayura.

"Erm…as embarrassed as I am to say this, my memory of the event is very faulty. I could only provide fragments of the chant, and even that may not be accurate. However, I've heard Cye praise you for your unerring ability to retain knowledge," Kayura stated.

"…Why don't you just ask the Thangiens what it means?" Brianna raised an eyebrow.

"There's still a lot we don't understand about their culture, and we don't want to offend them or anything by prying into their beliefs," Mia said.

"…But, you *_are_* prying."

"Witty girl…" Kayura chuckled under her breath.

"Please, Brianna, it'd be a great help to us. Just try to relax and remember those events as best you can," Rowen assured. Britania frowned and wrung her hands in her lap.

She drew herself up straight and closed her eyes. "…Vai taag moretan tel athan…" She tried to put herself in that exact moment, only not as a bewildered observer, but as the red-haired Thangien warrior-scholar herself, even replicating the rich accent. "Vai taag moretan tel daita. Vai taag moretan tel amesdal. Vai taag moretan tel ruundar." While she spoke, Mia typed quickly on the computer and Rowen scanned the pages of a book. He kept glancing to the computer screen, whispering under his breath to Mia, who nodded as she typed.

"On des til moretan viltaag, viltaag moretan en taag. Thon es dal moretan viltaag, viltaag moretan en taag. List el van moretan viltaag, viltaag moretan en taag. Orinest el com moretan viltaag, viltaag moretan en taag. Van des hel moretan viltaag, viltaag moretan en taag." Brianna furrowed her brow in concentration as she recalled the last part of the chant, which Rona had spoken with great potency. "En taag el hel, en taag el com, en taag el van, en taag el daal, en taag el til. Vai taag, vai taag, moretan und tael taag!" Britania let out a sharp gasp upon completing the recital, as if released from the grip of the very same spell from that day.

"…*_Wow_*! Cye wasn't kidding. You *_do_* have the memory of an elephant," Kayura commented, eyes wide. Britania blushed at that but smiled weakly.

"Very good, Brit! This saves us *_days_* of research!" Mia beamed.

"What's that?" Britania peered at the book Rowen was using.

"This? Oh, this is the closest thing to a Thangien-Human dictionary I could find from Raaezen. They like to bind their books along the top, something about making it easier to read in the saddle… Moretan could be read as 'death'…Vai is 'far'…" Britania glanced about the room. They didn't say she had to leave, so curiosity compelled her to stay. "The repetition of this phrase is confusing me… 'life-bind, life bind'," Rowen leaned against the desk and frowned.

"You're assuming Thangien is spoken using literal translations." Britania jumped in her seat when she heard the familiar voice from the study door. She looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened in surprise when she saw the auburn-haired warrior leaning against the frame. "Its proper usage would be, 'bind this life to the next'," he stated in his rich voice and walked towards the desk, taking a seat in the chair next to Britania.

The difference hadn't been as obvious before, as Britania hadn't seen much of the Elder Ronin since the Battle at the Citadel, but now she understood why the others were so interested in the chant. When she first met Anubis, he always seemed…*_diminished_*, or in poor health. Now he seemed almost younger, definitely more vibrant, and more like the younger Ronin than his fellow ex-Warlords. Brianna realized she was staring and glanced back at the desk.

"Ryo mentioned sensing an incredible power residing in Bainshaebo, but the Thangiens rely so much on physical skill, they don't seem like the type to use magic," Mia commented.

"Well, Thangiens don't believe in magic the same way we do. They believe that what we normally label 'magic' is merely the use of energies inherent in the universe itself," Rowen explained. "Ond is 'first'…Thon is 'second'…I'm starting to see a pattern here…" he muttered. Britania started to fidget in her seat. She glanced sideways at Anubis again, who had brought one leg up to rest across his knee, looking very much at ease. He set his elbows on the armrests and wove his fingers infront of his chest. Then he glanced at Britania out the corner of his eyes.

She snapped her gaze back to the desk and did her best to study the whorls of the wood, but instead found her gaze drifting back to the side. Anubis had turned his face to the side slightly, still looking at her. Britania made a barely-audible squeal and hooked her ankles over each other. She began bobbing her heels up and down, causing the chair to squeak slightly. The others didn't seem to notice, as immersed in their work as they were. Britania glanced at Anubis once more, only out the tiniest corner of her eye. This time he was staring *_right_* at her, looking very concerned and confused. Britania big her lip and began toying with her purse strap.

"Brianna, are we making you feel uncomfortable?" Anubis asked abruptly in a gentle tone.

"Huh!? Of course not! WhywouldIbeuncomfortable? I'mnotuncomfortable! WhosaysI'muncomfortable? Idon'tlookuncomfortable!" She fluttered her hands hysterically. "…Do I?"

"Yes," the others said in unison. Britania winced and hunched her shoulders.

"Britania, there's no reason to feel awkward around us. You really are helping," Kayura offered and put a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Remember what I said about helping the Ronin? Even though mortals like us lack special powers, we still support them in our own ways, like you're doing now," Mia added. Anubis gave a friendly smile, and Britania no longer felt unnerved by him.

"Okay…I'm not sure how accurate this is, but it *_sounds_* right," Rowen spoke up, and all attention turned towards him as he read from the computer screen.

"'In death we find resolution. In death we find damnation. In death we find rebirth. In death we find salvation'," Britania and Anubis listened in awe as Rowen continued. "'The first death went un-mourned, unsung; bind this life to the next. The second death went unknown, undone; bind this life to the next. The third death saw soul return; bind this life to the next. The fourth death saw darkness burn; bind this life to the next. The fifth death was past purged; bind this life to the next. See his loneliness, see his despair, see his awakening, see his enlightenment, see his renewal. Find him from afar, strip away his death and leave only the new!'"

"…for a culture that doesn't believe in magic…that sounds an awful lot like a magical incantation," Kayura whispered.

"It wasn't magic," Anubis spoke up suddenly. The others looked at him.

"What was it like?" Mia asked. Anubis frowned, and Britania saw sadness in his eyes.

"I hope to never experience such a sensation again…" he whispered as he recalled the incident with pain. "It was taking everything from me. I was returning to the grave. …And then something happened…I could feel my soul being liberated."

"Rona said…'Roth severed the ties to his former life, so he may start again anew'," Kayura recited. "Roth is one of their gods, isn't she?" Anubis shook his head.

"No…no, it wasn't divine either. I know what *_that_* feels like as well, and it wasn't it."

"…something…*_alien_*?" Britania spoke up timidly. The others looked thoughtful.

"That seems to be the logical explanation…"

"What strikes me funny is how you said Rona invoked Roth. If I remember correctly, Roth is their chief deity, but you'd think Ritho would be more appropriate than the Goddess of Victory," Rowen shrugged. Britania threw another memory around in her mind.

"Remember what Danae said? 'She is good over evil, she is life over death'."

"So if Ritho is the *_creation_* of life…" Kayura began.

"Roth would be the preservation of," Anubis finished.

"That's another thing I remember…Rona made some sort of sign… like this," Britania held her hands and wove her fingers together for all to see. Rowen's eyes widened and he started flipping through the book, mumbling. His expression brightened and he thumped the page.

"I *_knew_* I saw that somewhere! It's called the 'Chain of Life'. 'Everyone is tied to one another, and each person has the power to save the life of someone close to them.'"

"Kind of like how the armors seemed to lend their power to save Anubis. I'm not sure if you noticed, but both the Armors and the Staff reacted to Rona's prayer," Kayura mentioned.

"Shannon's pendant did the same thing! It was going off like a wonky traffic light!"

"All this is very strange indeed…yet until we can approach the Thangiens with our questions, this will have to remain a mystery …for now," Anubis muttered. The door opened abruptly.

"I hate to break up the meeting of the minds here, but we got an emergency. More of those Gargoyle Soldiers have been sighted in the northern edge of town," Ryo announced.

"What? Again?" Rowen closed the book and stood up out of his chair.

"That's the fourth incursion in as many weeks!" Anubis remarked and also stood.

"City ordered an evacuation, but the military doesn't stand a chance at protecting civilians *_and_* fighting the Dynasty for long," Ryo nodded to the hallway.

"See if you can bring back some armor shards. I might be able to use them to scry who's behind these attacks." Kayura said as the two Ronin walked towards the door.

"Be careful!" Britania called out. Rowen and Anubis glanced at her, smiling.

"Don't worry, Brit. It's just like all the other attacks before. What could happen?"

* * *

A professionally-dressed woman walked across the helipad towards one of the helicopters emblazoned with the TV station's logo. "Did you hear? More of those metal critters have been sighted in the north side! And you know who's bound to show up after, right?"

"The Ronin Warriors?" the scrawny cameraman replied as he loaded up equipment.

"Exactly! This is it, guys! I can feel it! Recording a live battle with the Ronin Warriors will get me that Journalist of the Year award, I'm sure of it! I'll do whatever it takes to get the story, even if I die trying!" The reporter raised her fist to the sky.

"...What about us? I don't like dying," the stocky pilot commented.

"Hush up and get the chopper started!" the reporter snapped and pointed at them, startling them into submission. They knew better than to get between a reporter and the story…

* * *

"The news made it sound like the Dynasty was *_infesting_* the area. I've seen rats in New York form bigger swarms!" Kento snorted as he crushed the head of the last Gargoyle Soldier.

"This still required our full response. We had a hard enough time defeating these things the first time. I can only imagine how the mortal defense forces fared," Cale reminded.

"I don't think we're gonna be able to get Kayura's sample. This stuff disintegrates minutes after you kill'em," Rowen remarked as he turned a shattered breastplate in his hands only to have the thick metal crumble to dust and slip between his fingers.

"What if we capture a live one?"

"Kinda hard to do when you killed the last one."

"That's weird…they didn't do that in my vision," Cye muttered.

"Yeah, but you said so yourself you weren't sure how much of your dream was accurate," Rowen reminded. Cye frowned and hummed to himself in concern. Ryo kicked aside the disintegrating husk of a soldier and walked towards the middle of the deserted street, powering down into sub-armor. The others followed his example and joined him in a loose circle.

"Okay, we need to find out exactly who's behind these attacks. You said one of the lesser Dynasty lords might've stepped up to the plate. Any idea who it could be?" While the Ronin Leader spoke, a metallic form watched from its vantage point in the shadows of a building. It waited until the other Ronin had powered down before creeping away.

"Hrm…what about the brothers? Duratir and Duratin?" Sehkmet scratched his chin.

"They certainly have the military might, but they never sought lordship themselves, only the battle. They answered to no one but Talpa himself. They wouldn't take orders from a minor lord, no matter how powerful they might be," Cale reminded and shook his head.

"Daala?" Anubis raised an eyebrow.

"Nope. I barbecued him fairly thoroughly," Ryo said.

"Garyuda?"

"Sent him packin'," Rowen answered.

"That jackass, Gogasha?"

"Took him out." "Kicked his can." Dais and Kento threw each other surprised glances when they spoke simultaneously, then just as quickly averted their gazes.

"There's that other guy…Butthead…I know he's called something else, I just can't remember at the moment," Sehkmet squeezed his eyes shut and snapped his fingers.

"Badamon's 'star pupil'? Pfft, he can barely lead a schoolroom," Cale rolled his eyes.

"What about Baron Zelso?"

"*_THAT_* poser? Are you *_kidding_*?! He makes Kento look like a tactical genius!" Dais jerked a thumb at Kento, who looked confused and offended. While the Elder Ronin and younger Ronin discussed possible suspects, Tanya glanced over her shoulder when she heard a distant humming. She scowled and looked towards the horizon at a eruption of violet light that arced through the sky in a narrow beam, shooting overhead then striking the ground somewhere in the city. A second beam arced up, coming from a slightly different angle.

"Wow, you guys really did clean house," Cale commented.

"Yeah, that's what happens when you get a Warlord of the Week," Sage smirked.

"Does anyone else see that?" Tanya asked as she watched a fourth beam shoot through the sky overhead. The others looked skyward as fifth and sixth beams crossed with the previous four. By the seventh, the beams started to look like the bars of an immense cage.

"…I'm getting a bad feeling about this…RUN!" Ryo ordered and took off running down the street. The others followed, pushing themselves to the maximum speed of their sub-armors.

"We should've known this was staged to lure us into a trap!" Sage cried.

"Why do you only say that *_after_* shit's hit the fan?" Cale commented. The ten of them raced towards the edge. Tanya crouched and pounced, lunging in an effort to dive through before the last beam appeared. It arced down into the ground, and the beams widened, sealing any gaps. Tanya collided with the violet barrier, rebounding and skidding onto the pavement.

"Ow!! What the hell!?" she complained and rubbed her shoulder. The others arrived at the newly formed barrier wall. Tanya stood up shakily and stepped back.

"That's why they didn't send a large force. They wanted to throw us off!"

"We still don't know who 'they' are, or why they keep making these random attacks," Ryo stated.

"The answer to that should be obvious. They're testing our resources. The Thangiens proved to be a wildcard in the last war. This new enemy is making sure we don't have any other surprise allies up our sleeves," Anubis explained.

"We should armor up. If this is part of some ambush, we'll need to be ready," Sehkmet advised. Ryo nodded and clenched his fist.

"ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!!" he and the other younger Ronin invoked their powers.

"ARMOR OF TYPHOON!! TAO KI-BOU!!" Tanya swung her left arm up and her right arm downward, tracing a circle in the air with the tips of her index fingers. She pulled her hands inward before moving her right arm up and left arm down, recreating the Eye of the Storm.

"ARMOR OF CRUELTY! TAO CHUU!" Anubis clenched his left fist and held it to the right, sweeping it through the air before doing the same with his right. He crossed his wrists over his chest then held out his arms.

"ARMOR OF CORRUPTION! TAO TEI!" Cale splayed his fingers like claws and slashed through the air, sweeping his arms to either side before swinging forward and holding his hands together, as if clutching something between sharp talons.

"ARMOR OF VENOM!! TAO KO!" Sehkmet pulled his left arm back and held his right arm forward, curling his hands and mimicking a striking serpent. The swept his right hand back and thrust forward with his left before holding his right hand under the left once more.

"ARMOR OF ILLUSION!! TAO NIN!!" Dais crossed his arms infront of his chest and splayed his fingers over his upper arms. He swung his arms out to the side grandly before sweeping upward and clutching his left wrist with his right hand and reaching forward.

The ten Ronin stood in a loose circle, their arms outstretched in their individual summoning gestures. A breeze swept through the area and blew loose leaflets past their legs. "…umm…lights and stuff are supposed to form by now," Tanya muttered and glanced from side to side.

"I was afraid of this… We're powerless in here," Rowen stated and walked towards the wall of the barrier. The other younger male Ronin threw Dais angry glances.

"…What?" Dais shrugged and blinked several times, confused.

"What do you think?" Ryo asked and walked over to where Rowen knelt by the shield.

"This barrier is repulsing our armors' energy, preventing them from manifesting." Rowen moved his hand over the transparent violet wall. Ripples flowed outward from his touch.

"What if we disrupt it, like this?" Kento rapped his knuckle against the shield, sending multiple ripples coursing along the barrier. Rowen sighed.

"No…that actually makes it worse."

"Maybe we can escape through the subway?" Sage suggested.

"I doubt it. Our armors still haven't formed, that means the shield extends underground."

"This is just peachy. What *_can_* we do, then?" Cale huffed and folded his arms.

"For now, nothing. Unless Kayura senses we're in trouble and can find a way to destroy the shield from the outside, we're stuck," Rowen replied and stood up. Tanya stood close to him then reached out and grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him towards her slightly.

"Have I ever mentioned to you guys how much I like Rowen? I mean I really, really like him," she said cheerily and started shaking a surprised Rowen from side to side. "He's got such *_fun_*, *_interesting_* ways to say we're *_completely_* censored." Rowen grimaced from the expletive.

"We'll just have to make do without our full armors," Ryo said. Just as he finished speaking, a series of chilling shrieks erupted from the rooftops. The ten Ronin looked up and saw countless Gargoyle Soldiers perched along the edges, like vultures awaiting a meal.

"You were saying about finding a live one earlier?" Kento asked Rowen, who whined.

"Split up! Evade them!" Ryo ordered, and the ten scattered. Legions of Gargoyle Soldiers took to the sky, beating their heavy wings in pursuit.

* * *

Tires squeaked as a car with the license plate HALO LVR5 jerked to a stop. Doors opened and two women stepped out. "I'm not sure I believe what I'm seeing," Shannon remarked.

"It reeks of dark magic…" Kayura held a hand out to the shifting violet barrier then recoiled, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sensing a great deal of energy sustaining it…but it also seems to be *_repulsing_* energy. I can sense the powers of the Nine outside."

"I'm getting the same thing with the Cross," Shannon pulled the pendant out by its chain. The gems blinked rapidly, instead of pulsing gently. "It's like there's a power back-up."

"I can't even use the Staff to check on the condition of the Ronin…Look! There!" Kayura exclaimed and pointed at a form that darted out into the street inside the barrier.

"Sage! Oh my God! He's not wearing armor! Sage!!" Shannon shrieked.

* * *

Sage caught a glimpse of a familiar figure standing outside the barrier, futilely banging her fist against it, calling his name. He couldn't hear her, but her presence reassured him. An unearthly shriek drew his attention back to the front, where more constructs lunged from the sky. "I refuse to believe you freaks are that tough! Hyah!!" Sage leapt up to meet them and pulled his fist back before driving it towards the chest of a soldier. The thick metal plate didn't so much as buckle. Sage's eyes widened and he grunted as the soldier swatted him away. He managed to right himself and landed on his feet. The soldiers swooped down, gathering speed to dive.

"I hope this works…" Sage muttered as he backed up against a wall, waiting until the constructs were within arm's length. He leapt up suddenly, letting the constructs collide with the wall. The soldiers didn't crumple as easily as he'd hoped, and the impact had the unexpected side-effect of sending massive cracks through the wall. Sage winced and pounced away. "These things are too tough to just stand and fight. Ryo had the right idea, I guess…" Sage fled down a street but paused when he caught a glimpse of something off to the side.

Cale stood with his back to a wall, and dozens of constructs closed in. He looked frightened in the face of certain death. Sage tensed, ready to intervene, but halted when he saw Sehkmet standing atop a light post on the opposite side of the street. He reached down and wrenched the cable supporting traffic lights out from its bolt and held it to one side before springing across the street, carrying the cable with him. The soldiers closed in on Cale, who cowered against the wall. Suddenly his terror melted into malicious mischief and he ducked down and darted out from the clutches of the soldiers. They turned to give chase but halted when they heard a screeching roar.

Sehkmet swung the cable around before hurling it towards the head of the nearest construct. The traffic light closest to the end of the cable plowed into the head of the first soldier, burrowing through the thick metal helmet and impaling the soldier beside it. Metal crunched as the heavy cable wove through the pack of soldiers like a needle through beads. Sehkmet landed on the pavement next to Cale, grinning. "Don't compromise, improvise!" Cale smirked and they shared a hi-five. They looked to the side when they heard clapping.

"Looks like you're learning the benefits of teamwork," Sage complemented and walked over.

"Was this what it was like for you all when you fought against us during the Wars?"

"Pretty much," Sage admitted and shrugged absently.

"I understand why you all were so bitter! This sucks!"

"Hey, it could be worse," Sehkmet shrugged. The three of them jumped upon hearing a series of echoing shrieks coming from up the street.

"Never say that!" Sage and Cale berated Sehk before the three fled down the street.

* * *

"You've *_GOT_* to be kidding me…" Ryo muttered as he watched several Gargoyle Soldiers squeeze themselves behind the wheel of abandoned cars along the street. Dozens of them perched along the rooftops like spectators to a stunt show. They'd effectively corralled him. "This brings back memories…" Ryo smirked and readied himself. The engines started and several cars barreled towards him. He leapt up, intending to take to the roof and escape, but a soldier lunged and swatted him back down. Ryo landed back on the street and looked over his shoulder as the cars wheeled around to ram him again. "I think you guys need your licenses revoked!"

The constructs emitted low screeches as if laughing or cheering. Ryo glanced to the side where he saw a group blocking off one street. If he tried to escape on foot, they would likely hurl him back into the fray. The cars quickly approached, and Ryo waited until the foremost one nearly hit him before hopping onto the hood. He dug his fingers into the grille then turned around, thrusting with his foot through the glass and crushing the muzzle of the soldier driving. Red mist poured out, but the soldier's metal boot weighed heavily on the gas pedal. Still clutching the hood, Ryo reached through the shattered windshield with his free hand and grabbed the steering wheel, turning it sharply. He glanced back to the blocked-off street.

The constructs growled in disapproval and readied their weapons. Ryo guided the car towards them erratically, but instead of hitting them head on, he jerked the steering wheel to the side again. Before the car could go forward, he backflipped onto the roof of the car and grabbed the frame, leaning away and using his weight to force the car to tip over. He sprang away when the car started rolling, and two tons of steel travelling at 70mph proved more than enough to mow the soldiers down. "I'm outta here!" Ryo waved to the other soldiers and took off. They roared in protest and took to the skies after him. One tucked in its wings and dove.

A blue and black blur dropped down from a rooftop, striking the soldier in its head and bearing it to the pavement. The soldier grunted and tried to shake off its attacker, but a sharp stomp flattened its muzzle. "I think flying's spoiled me," Rowen commented.

"You seem to be managing okay," Ryo chuckled. The two looked up when they saw shadows of more soldiers sweep overhead. "Nothing fazes these guys! Run!"

* * *

"rrrRRAAGH!" Kento roared and rammed a construct in the chest, knocking it onto its back. He began punching it in the face repeatedly, but the soldier managed to reach up with one foot and kick him off. Much to his surprise, it started to stand. "That wasn't enough for you? Fine then!" Kento glanced to either side for anything he could use as a weapon. He closed his fingers around the pole of a parking sign and tugged, uprooting sign and a chunk of concrete. The soldier staggered to its feet and stepped forward. Kento hefted the pole and hurled it like a javelin, impaling the construct and sending it skidding. Red mist seeped out from the ruptured breastplate. "I think I'd prefer the New York rats…" Kento wiped his brow with his arm.

"Hey mate!" Kento looked up when he heard a familiar voice and saw a familiar person.

"Cye! Dude, you okay?"

"I'm fine. I managed to shake'em. You look like you had it rough yourself…" Cye commented as he noticed various scars in the pavement from previous attacks.

"I know Ryo gave the 'evasive maneuvers' order, but you know me; I hate backing down from a fight. I wonder if there's just a certain amount of 'em here, or if they're teleporting in."

"How? The shield blocks our armors from coming."

"Dunno. Maybe it's one of those dimensional things," Kento shrugged.

"Shhh…you hear that?" Cye looked over his shoulders when he heard clanging sounds. The two ran down the street and peeked around the corner.

"You like that? Huh! Do you! Here, lemme crank it up hi-speed!" the Lady Ronin shrieked as she inflicted an excruciating noogie on a Gargoyle Soldier. The soldier squirmed and flapped its wings to no avail, until finally the helmet popped out from its neck. Tanya kept grinding her knuckle against the metal, not noticing until several seconds later. She discarded the helm and whirled around. "Who's next!?" Much to Kento and Cye's surprise, the typically relentless Gargoyle Soldiers backed away, some actually holding their hands up in warding.

"I've practiced on tree trunks that put up more of a fight!" Tanya backflipped onto a wall and braced her feet against the brick, bunching her legs up for her hazardous Suicide Slam. She fixed her angry bronze-brown eyes on one construct and pounced. Instead of aiming to hit it head-on, she brought her arms up, shielding her head with her elbows. Her speed coupled with the protection of her armor caused her to plow through the chest cavity of the soldier. She flipped forward and skidded to a stop then turned around, pouncing at the nearest construct. Instead of aiming for its muzzle or neck, she grabbed it by the shoulders and began ramming her knee into its crotch repeatedly, until the metal started to buckle upward.

"…am I the only one who finds that hot?" Kento said aloud. Cye raised an eyebrow and glanced at him. "Oh no! TANYA! BEHIND YOU!"

The Lady Ronin looked their way when she heard Kento shriek, then behind her at the massive big rig hurtling towards her. Instead of simply leaping out of the way, however, she tensed and waited until it nearly hit her. She sprang up and latched onto the grille, letting the Dynasty-driven truck take her for a ride. The construct at the wheel turned the vehicle, aiming it for the side of a building. Tanya pulled back one fist before plunging it into the engine.

"Jump…come on! Jump!" Kento whispered to himself. He and Cye watched in anticipation and horror as the truck sped towards the end of the street. Tanya moved her arm about inside the engine, grasping and tearing at anything. The construct kicked the driver's-side door open and sprang out, spreading its wings and drifting away. Less than thirty feet remained between Tanya's back and the wall of a building. Suddenly the tires screeched and stopped altogether, but the truck continued to scoot forward. The trailer swung and groaned as the wheels spun.

Against all odds, the truck slowed to a crawl, finally coming to a stop with less than seven inches between the grille and the wall, leaving both the building and the majority of the vehicle un-damaged. Kento and Cye ran over and saw Tanya trying to squirm out from the vice.

"Tanya! You okay? Need help?" Cye asked.

"Nop…I'm good…uuuhnn…ack!" Tanya skipped out onto the pavement and shrugged her shoulders, still dizzy after her wild antics.

"I'm surprised you managed to wiggle out of such a narrow space," Cye commented.

"Eh, I'm not. She certainly is flat-chested enough...Oop! I didn't say that!" Kento exclaimed and clamped both hands over his mouth. Cye gave him a startled look.

"…Yes you did…" Both of them glanced at the Lady Ronin, who stared at Kento with an indescribable expression. She walked over to him and raised her hand, and Kento flinched in dread. Tanya opened her mouth to speak then closed it and lowered her hand. She opened her mouth again and raised a finger, and Kento once more flinched, but Tanya held back whatever she wanted to say. Then she started wagging her finger at him.

"I'll get back to you later," she said simply and walked off. Kento watched her leave.

"I'd set your affairs in order if I were you," Cye advised. Kento whimpered nervously.

* * *

"I won't fall by your hand!" Dais drove his fist into the neck of a construct then whirled around and kicked another. "I've been through too much! I won't let it end this way!" Only two remained of the dozen or more that had attacked him. The one he kicked recovered from the blow and attacked again. Dais readied himself but cried out when thick arms wrapped around his chest and held him tight. The construct infront drew out an axe and raised it, while the one behind kept Dais' arms pinned to his sides. *_Is this what the Ronin suffered at my hands?*_

The attacking construct grunted and staggered back, and Dais blinked when he saw armored fingers clutching the sides of the helmet. The soldier wind-milled its arms futilely then fell limp as the hands crushed the helmet flat. Dais used the distraction to wrench himself out of the second construct's grip and buried his fist in its mouth, almost splitting the helm in two. He shook his sore fingers as the body slumped onto the pavement and looked at his rescuer.

"I had that taken care of, you know," he grumbled, annoyed.

"Oh I'm sure you did, I was just venting frustration," Anubis smirked.

"Anubis! Dais!" The two looked to the side and saw Ryo and Rowen approach. "You two allright?" the Ronin Leader asked, concerned.

"We're fine. I managed to dent their numbers significantly," Dais boasted. Anubis snorted.

"Ryo!" Ryo raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder, surprised to see Sehkmet waving at him and running towards him, with Cale and Sage accompanying him.

"What are you three doing together?"

"Oh, just running like hell with half of the Dynasty forces at our heels," Cale grumbled.

"The same could be said for us. They're awfully smart trackers…" Rowen commented.

"Ryo!" Ryo blinked and turned around.

"Sis?" Tanya ran over to him with Cye and Kento following close behind.

"What the hell? Why are we all back together?"

"They herded us here…but why?" Rowen rubbed his chin. The ten of them jumped at the ominous howling and looked skyward, dismayed to see the air clogged with circling constructs.

"They wanted to keep us together so they could take us out all at once, otherwise it would take them that much longer to hunt us down and eliminate us individually," Anubis stated as dozens of soldiers landed on the street and closed in. The empty street stretched out to the right and left, and an abandoned shopping center stood to the front. Behind them stood a large parking garage filled with deserted vehicles. The Ronin clustered up and faced outward.

"I may not have my full armor's power, but I can still do this. Cale!" Dais shouted.

"I got your back!" the warrior answered and began moving his hands through the air. Dais held his palm out as if stroking something and the air started to distort. From Cale's side, thick tendrils of inky black smoke wove through the air. The other Ronin watched in amazement as the shadowy fog enveloped them. The amassed Gargoyle Soldiers screeched and dove into the mass, slashing wildly. When the fog dispersed, they found they had inadvertently slain some of their own, and the Ronin nowhere in sight. The soldiers roared in frustration and swarmed the air.

Inside the parking garage, the Ronin crouched behind the relative safety of various cars, keeping to the shadows. Ryo looked to the left at Dais. "That was a good move!" he complemented. Dais smirked and looked back outside, where the Gargoyle Soldiers circled.

"This hiding makes me sick. We should be out there fighting!" Sehkmet grumbled.

"You wanna go out there by yourself, be my guest," Ryo glanced over his shoulder. Sehkmet looked from him to the air outside the garage where dozens of constructs screeched and howled. Then he looked back at Ryo with a meek expression. "That's what I thought."

"Ryo, we should try summoning the AnimArmors. We can probably still use our clawnchers since those are technically part of the sub-armor," Rowen suggested.

"Hmm…calling them would draw attention to us…but it's worth the risk. Let's do it!"

The Gargoyle Soldiers in the air saw a flash of light coming from the second level of the parking garage and howled triumphantly before diving towards the open level.

* * *

"The energy is dark, but it's like nothing I've ever seen before. It's not Dynasty energy," Kayura remarked as she studied the pulsing barrier. Shannon blinked and looked to the side.

"Kayura! Look!" The Staff-Bearer looked up and raised an eyebrow, surprised to see six animals bounding towards them: a lion, jaguar, eagle, ram, iguana, and a shark.

"Lyor! The Ronin must've tried summoning the AnimArmors, and the barrier is keeping the Incarnations out here…This is unsettling. I'd hoped because they are spirit beasts they could pierce the shield…even Foam Reaver can't get through," Kayura looked at the Australian Torrent as he bumped his nose against the shield under his personal spirit sea.

"And the only reason we can see them now is because they *_are_* the Armors…" Shannon muttered and stroked Lyor's ears. The lion hummed sadly. Razor Wing settled onto one of Boulderdash's great curled horns, and the ram tried to shake the eagle off, annoyed. Jaguaradina sniffed the shield before lying down on her side. Iguadalupen lifted himself up on his hind legs and braced his scaly palms against the rippling barrier. Shannon looked skyward when she heard the stuttering of propellers and saw a lone news helicopter. "That's seldom ever helpful…"

* * *

Gargoyle Soldiers poured into the open second level and leapt from car to car, bounding towards their target, axes raised and claws splayed. A sudden burst of energy caught one in the chest and sent it crashing against three others behind it, throwing the sizzling remains out into the street. "*_That's_* how you do it!" Kento cried and aimed his clawnchers at another approaching pack of soldiers. His arm jerked from the recoil of the powerful energy weapon, but the results were worth the effort as the blasts nearly disintegrated the constructs before they actually died.

Soldiers grunted in surprise as they found themselves peppered by a hail of spectral gunfire. Tanya fired her gatlings at distant soldiers and used the claw blades to slice up any that got too close. Cye's harpoons pierced the thick armor plate easily, some even penetrating through to soldiers behind. Sage didn't have a projectile like the others, but swung his light blades at nearby constructs, slicing through them neatly. Rowen shot pulses of blue light from his clawnchers, mowing them down quickly. Ryo aimed his clawnchers at a soldier and fired three darts.

The tines opened up and latched onto the metal plate, but nothing immediately happened. The construct grunted in surprise and looked down at the darts. Ryo raised an eyebrow and fired again, this time aiming for the construct's face. The dart clung to the muzzle, but the soldier didn't seem adversely affected. The soldier swatted the darts off and charged. Ryo stepped back, startled, but Sage intervened and dispatched it with his light blades.

"Don't you have any other kinds of darts? Like exploding darts, or even acid darts?"

"Um…I think the trank ones are the only ones I can use…"

"Try your Dragon armor," Rowen recommended as he fired. Ryo twisted the ring insignia.

"White Dragon!!"

* * *

"I still can't believe the size of this thing…it must cover more than a dozen square blocks," the reporter remarked as she leaned out of the side of the news chopper, secured to the inside by a fabric harness. "I can't see what's happening inside this pink bubble…get us closer!"

"I shouldn't risk it. We're close enough as it is," the pilot argued.

"Oh just a few inches wouldn't hurt. What's the worst that could happen?" The pilot grumbled something under his breath but complied and nudged the helicopter a bit closer. Suddenly the surface of the violet barrier crackled and sent a discharge at the rotors. The chopper whined as the engine ceased operating and began plummeting through the air.

"Engine's dead! I can't do anything!" the pilot screamed. The cameraman clutched his harness tightly and gibbered prayers. The reporter staggered back into the cockpit as the craft spiraled downward. They were going to crash, just like the crew from before the Toyama Disturbance.

Just when it seemed they would hit the side of a building, the helicopter jerked to a halt, nearly throwing the crew out if not for their safety harnesses. The reporter looked outside and blinked, surprised to see the door blocked by a strange white material. At first glance it looked like a cross between canvas and leather. She scooted towards the door and reached out gingerly, setting her palm against it. It felt warm. The surface twitched suddenly and the reporter staggered back into her seat and watched in awe as it seemed a thick white pillar moved away.

The crew could only sit and wait as they moved through the air, heading towards an open rooftop slowly. The helicopter rocked as the pillars peeled back and scooted out from under the landing struts. The reporter hurriedly unbuckled her harness and clambered towards the door and slipped out. She set her feet on the rooftop and stepped away from the craft, awestruck by the immense white-scaled, winged creature that stood in the street, towering above most buildings.

"Raurgoth! It's Raurgoth! Ryo must've tried summoning Inferno!" Kayura remarked. She and Shannon had watched the doomed craft spiral in its collision course and were surprised when the Inferno Incarnation materialized just in time to catch it and deposit it gently on a rooftop.

* * *

"Uh….I don't seem to have any clawnchers…" Ryo muttered as he studied the smooth white gauntlets of his Dragon sub-armor. The wings attached to the arms draped at his sides.

"Just hang back then, let us handle this," Rowen said and kept firing.

"These things are pouring in faster than we can take'em down. They'll overwhelm us if we don't do something fast," Cye fretted.

"We can move to the top level, buy us some time," Sage suggested.

"I know just how to do that…" Kento aimed at the ceiling some distance away and fired. Chunks of concrete and twisted rebar rained down on attacking Gargoyle Soldiers. The opening widened as a car collapsed, crushing more constructs. "Time to make like a Boeing and jet!"

"Move, move!" Rowen ordered and the ten leapt through the opening, leaving the soldiers confounded and angry in the second level. Still more soldiers hovered in the air outside and dove into the third level in pursuit, but the Ronin jumped up the ramp to the fourth level. Kento had waited till the others escaped before preparing to follow, but a soldier tackled him from the side and flew out into the street, hurtling towards an apartment building.

Inside, an elderly couple sat on the floor enjoying a traditional meal. They didn't notice immediately when two wrestling figures crashed through the wall and flew past. The man continued eating absently while the woman glanced at the kitchen upon hearing metal crunch and squeak. Something growled in protest before the growling ceased abruptly. Then a young man wearing orange and white armor stepped into the living room and peeled a disembodied hand off his arm. "Sorry 'bout that, folks. I'll be on my way," he waved politely and walked towards the hole in the outside wall. Then he paused and walked back to the table. "Actually, mind if I? Thanks," he said cheerfully and tweaked a rice ball out from the plate on the table, popping it in his mouth before leaving once more. The elderly couple looked mostly confused.

Raurgoth cocked his head to one side and sniffed at the shield. He raised one hand and scraped the barrier with his claws. Ripples expanded but the shield remained intact. Then, strangely enough, Raurgoth opened his jaws wide and tried to *_bite_* the shield. He turned his head from side to side, trying to gnaw at the barrier, but his jaws couldn't open wide enough to sink the killing fangs in. Raurgoth growled in frustration at being unable to reach his master.

"What is he doing?" Ryo muttered and the Ronin watched as the Inferno Dragon braced his claws against the barrier. The ground shuddered as Raurgoth clambered atop the shield with great effort. "Is he trying to sit on it and break it?" The shield dwarfed him, despite his immense size. On the rooftop, the reporter and her stranded crew watched the dragon crouch.

The air whistled as Raurgoth spread his wings, nearly spanning the diameter of the shield itself. The Ronin had a good view of Raurgoth's silvery-scaled belly from where they stood. Raurgoth raised his wings slightly then moved them down, slowly at first. The gust sent loose trash and various banners flying. Then Raurgoth flapped again, and again, each time with more force. Traffic lights bobbed from side to side, and signs groaned and creaked.

Raurgoth tucked his legs together and continued moving the powerful wing limbs up, around, back, then down in a steady rhythm. The rotors of the dead helicopter moved from the powerful gusts created by the dragon; each wing-beat a gale, each downdraft a hurricane. Cars rocked and bounced up and down in place and windows rattled in their frames. This was the first time they had seen the White Dragon attempt to fly, and it seemed doubtful something weighing hundreds of tons could do that, but Raurgoth defied the odds as he started to rise. Posters peeled off walls and billboards snapped off their foundations. Raurgoth hovered above the shield several moments before making a powerful downward sweep and disappearing into the clouds.

"Where the heck is he going?" Rowen scratched his head.

"Who knows? Dragons often have their own agendas," Cale commented.

"Ryo!" Kento reunited with them and panted in exhaustion. "Ryo, there's still civilians here. Some people didn't get the evacuation order!" he relayed to an exasperated Ronin Leader.

"The Dynasty anticipated that, no doubt. They didn't want to just suppress our powers, they wanted to restrict what little fighting capability we have left," Sage scowled.

"We can't just have a shootout then. A stray shot might hit a civilian!" Cye worried.

"What we need is a place that wouldn't be occupied and there wouldn't be any civilians in harm's way," Rowen tapped his chin. Kento looked around then up.

"Who hangs out in a business tower in the middle of a crisis?" he pointed to a skyscraper.

"Sounds good. Let's head out before the enemy catches on," Ryo ordered.

"This is more like it!" Rowen grinned as he ascended with ease, using the wing-like fabric of his sub-armor. The Elder Ronin had to scale the walls conventionally while the AnimArmor bearers scampered up with a wild grace. Tanya passed over a window but something collided with her and sent her crashing into an empty office. The Gargoyle Soldier lumbered towards her but staggered back and collapsed when Tanya unloaded on it with her gatlings. She wiped her cheek against her shoulder and panted. Then she looked to the side and saw a chubby man standing close to a desk with a mop in one hand and a bucket of water at his feet.

"Oh-ghk-for the love of-!" Tanya smacked a hand against her face. A pink and white form shot out from the broken window and towards a roof. Tanya held the janitor in her arms and deposited him roughly on the rooftop. "GET YOUR ASS HOME, NOW!" she screamed at the startled man and sprang back towards the tower. The man watched as she climbed quickly.

"They don't know where we are. We should be safe up here, for now," Rowen scanned the skyline from where he perched. Ryo stood with his back to a stairwell and the other AnimArmor bearers took up positions along the sides of the roof. The Elder Ronin sat in the middle.

"Well this sucks. I haven't been engaged with Danae more than a week and I'm already gonna die," Dais grumbled. The others threw him surprised glances.

"Say what?!" "No way!" "You kidding?"

"*_That's_* what your big mystery trip was about?!" Cale exclaimed. Dais grinned.

"Yup. The Pairing Ceremony itself won't be for a couple of months, though."

"Hey, that's great to hear!" Sage beamed.

"Man…something's wrong with this world if someone like *_Dais_* finds a girlfriend before I do," Kento huffed and folded his arms over his chest.

"Don't sound so glum, Kento. If I have any say in it, you can be my *_urpaedwun_*."

"What?!" Kento growled and clenched his fist, turning towards the smug Ronin.

"It means 'dagger-bearer'. It's like the Thangien best man. It's considered a huge honor!" Rowen explained. Kento blinked and glanced from Rowen to Dais, who smiled.

"Oh…uh…okay…thanks….I think…" He wasn't sure if this was some plot to humiliate him or an effort by Dais to finally bury the hatchet. He looked sincere enough…

"Don't worry, Dais. You'll live to get hitched. We all will," Ryo said. The others exchanged confused glances and whispered comments and raised eyebrows. "Now when I say that I mean it as in we'll all survive this ordeal, not necessarily that we'll all get married, as some of us have yet to find significant-others. Like Kento said, and I know I, myself have yet to find that special someone-why am I still talking?" Ryo sighed and hung his head.

"Did you reach second base?" Sehkmet piped up, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Home run," Dais grinned widely.

"Really?!" "Awesome!" "Buuullshiiit…"

"TMI TMI!!" Tanya squawked and squeezed her eyes shut, pawing her hands through the air.

Rowen chuckled upon seeing the Lady Ronin's reaction and glanced out over the city. "Uh oh…Break time's over, we got incoming!" he shouted when he saw distant dark specks swarming towards the building. Thousands of soldiers flew while thousands more hauled themselves up the walls with their talons. "Kento, Sage, Cye, Tanya, take positions on the corners. I'll cover the air!" Rowen ordered and took flight. Ryo frowned in disappointment.

"Relaaax, Ryo. You can sit with the rest of the useless crowd," Cale comforted.

"Aren't you forgetting something? You *_are_* your greatest weapon." They looked at Anubis, who stood in the middle of one side of the roof. He stared down at the rapidly approaching soldiers. The first one to the top roared in triumph upon confirming the Ronin's location, but grunted in shock as Anubis lunged and braced one hand against its shoulder and grabbed one of its wings with his other. Bolts popped and squealed as Anubis wrenched the wing clean off and pushed the construct away. Not only did the Gargoyle Soldier plummet to its doom, it crashed into other ascending constructs and took them with it.

Anubis looked over his shoulder and smirked. "See? You don't need fancy weapons to fight" The other Elder Ronin exchanged glances before standing up and taking positions along the other edges, between the AnimArmor bearers. Tanya and Cye looked offended by the comment and flipped Anubis off, but the blades on their clawnchers mostly obscured the gesture.

Ryo remained by the stairwell, content to watch as the AnimArmor bearers rained death from the corners while the Elder Ronin attacked infiltrators from the sides, ripping the wings off constructs and sending them tumbling. Rowen flew from side to side, catching any that evaded the initial defenses. The sight of such co-operation brought a smile to the Ronin Leader's face.

One Gargoyle Soldier arced high above the building, avoiding Rowen's patrol. It spotted the Ronin Leader with his back to a brick wall. It hovered in the air until it saw Rowen wheel away then tucked its wings and dove towards the center of the roof. Sage frowned when he heard a distinct clack and looked over his shoulder. His eyes widened in shock at seeing a soldier had landed in their midst. Shock turned to horror as the soldier charged, making a beeline for one person. "RYO! LOOK OUT!" Ryo's gaze snapped forward and widened.

Chunks of masonry exploded off the roof and sailed towards the distant ground, and with them, a white-armored figure. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!" Ryo screamed as he fell.

"RYO! RYO!!" Rowen dove, hoping to catch him, but several constructs intercepted him and grabbed his arms. "Let go of me! Get off!!" Rowen snarled and fired point-blank into their bodies, finally managing to shake them off at the cost of precious seconds. "RYO!!"

Rushing air whipped his bangs away from his face. The Ronin Leader's eyes fluttered open and widened upon seeing the rapidly approaching pavement. He writhed midair trying to right himself. At this speed-this far from anything to catch onto, and without full armor-the impact would no doubt kill him. He spread his arms in an attempt to slow his fall.

The thick material composing the dragon wings fluttered. Then the limbs attached to Ryo's wrist snapped to the side suddenly. Ryo closed his eyes, dreading the impact. He opened them again when he realized the air wasn't pressing against his face as hard as before. He glanced to the left when he heard a curious rippling sound. The dragon wings had unfurled, and unbelievably enough, slowed his descent immensely. Ryo moved his arms up and down testily. His eyes widened when he hovered in the air instead of descending.

He remembered watching Raurgoth as he lifted off; how the dragon moved his wings in a cyclic motion rather than just flapping straight up and down. Ryo mimicked the motion, and grinned when he *_rose_* slightly. He lent more strength to the effort and began *_ascending_*. The actions seemed no different from moving one's limbs about in water to stay afloat.

"heh heh heh…Hah hah…hah hah hah! WHOOO!!" Ryo swept his arms downward and shot up alongside the wall. "WHOO HOO!!!"

"RYO!! RYO! HANG ON! I'M COMING!" Rowen shrieked as he dove down. Something white shot up past him quickly.

"Last one up's a rotten sushi roll!" Rowen raised an eyebrow and braked to a stop jerkily.

"Wha?" He stopped just in time to see a winged form soaring back towards the roof.

"Hah hah haaaa!" Ryo laughed in boyish glee. He glanced sideways when he saw Rowen.

"Looks like you found your wings!" Rowen teased.

"Oh I've always had'em, I just now learned how to use'em!" Ryo replied.

Cye gasped when he saw a winged form rise above the roof and almost shot it until he realized it was Rowen accompanied by a flying Ryo.

"And you thought your sub-armor sucked," Anubis chuckled.

"You know, you look kinda silly flapping your arms like that," Sehkmet commented.

"I dunno, I like to think they look badass enough that it kinda balances out. I mean, they look better than those flimsy pillowcases Rowen's wearing."

"Well at least I can do this without moving my arms," Rowen retorted and flipped Ryo off. Ryo chuckled and took up position opposite of Rowen. Several Gargoyle Soldiers closed in on the Ronin Leader upon realizing he'd survived. Ryo narrowed his eyes and held his arms at his sides. The outermost edge of the wing limbs glinted with a metallic sheen and Ryo spiraled in midair. Metal groaned as the formerly airborne constructs split apart like discarded potato peels.

Every construct inside the energy barrier swarmed the building like ants attacking an intruding stick, but as quickly as they reached the top the combined efforts of the Ronin drove them back until the swarm became more of a crawl. Tanya continued her sweep from her corner. She glanced from side to side, looking for anymore attackers. Then she glanced upward.

"Oh my God…FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!!!" she screamed at the top of her lungs. The other Ronin looked her way and recoiled at the sight of an immense white object hurtling towards the barrier from outside. The Ronin staggered back and ducked in reflex.

The entire barrier and everything within shuddered as Raurgoth collided with it back-first. The pavement cracked all around the outside of the shield, and the section of the city encased by it actually moved a fraction of an inch. The shield shuddered and rippled. It did not break.

Raurgoth, however, rebounded off the shield spectacularly. The dazed dragon flailed through the air and crashed back-first into a recently completed luxury hotel. The entire building cracked in two and the halves sagged to either side, destroying an adjacent shopping center and theatre with them. The ten Ronin watched aghast as debris rained in all directions. The air glittered with countless glass shards and the Inferno Dragon became lost amid the ruin.

"Wasn't that the new place that was scheduled to open next week?" the pilot commented as he paused in his diagnostics of the helicopter upon hearing the stupendous impact.

"Please tell me you got that…" the reporter whispered, watching the dust settle.

"Yup," the cameraman chirped and focused the lens on the devastation.

"I'm not seeing this…" Ryo had landed on the edge of the roof and clamped both hands over his face. Sehkmet stood close to him and raised an eyebrow. He reached over with one hand and pulled Ryo's left away from his face. Ryo yanked his wrist away and covered his face again. Sehkmet reached out and grabbed both Ryo's wrists and pulled his hands away, but Ryo wrenched free and buried his face in his palms once more. Sehkmet reached out for the Ronin Leader's left wrist again, but Ryo quickly swatted him before returning to his shame.

"I could've told you that wasn't going to work!!" Kayura shouted at the dragon as he staggered to his feet and shrugged off debris. Shannon arrived with the smaller Incarnations following close behind. Raurgoth roared in protest and rose to his full height.

"Boulderdash, that didn't work for Raurgoth…" Shannon put her hands on her hip when she saw the ram bashing his head against the barrier repeatedly. Iguadalupen and Jaguaradina seemed content to nap while Razor Wing stood on the ground and cocked his head from side to side, as if analyzing the shield. Lyor stood next to Shannon and Foam Reaver circled impatiently.

"Raurgoth needs to understand that brute force isn't going to solve this. This shield is one immense spell; we need to discover the core of it and find a way to unravel it," Kayura muttered. She didn't see the long white object coming close until it bumped right into her, almost knocking her over. "Hey! Raurgoth, stop! Haven't you done enough?" The dragon continued to nudge them back with the very tip of his tail, which was as thick as a tree trunk.

"I think we should do what he wants. He's planning something," Shannon cautioned and she and the other Incarnations backed away as Raurgoth began flapping his wings forward instead of downward. He began inhaling deeply, air rattling inside his throat.

"Is he trying to blow the shield over now?" Cale snorted. The Inferno Dragon's belly swelled and the wings continued moving up, back, then forward.

Shannon staggered back from the gale-force winds and transformed the Cross into its sword form. She moved her hand over the Torrent Aquamarine and conjured a shield of water to absorb the gusts. The shield rippled like the surface of an ocean during a storm but held.

Rowen narrowed his eyes in realization. "He's cycling air in…Ryo!" The Ronin Leader parted his fingers and peeked at Rowen. "You gotta stop him! I know what he's trying to do!"

The air around Raurgoth's mouth rippled and his jaws hinged open slightly, revealing an interior that glowed hotter than a blast furnace. From the ground, Shannon and Kayura heard a loud crackling roar that rose in volume ever so slightly.

"RAURGOTH! DON'T DO IT!! STOP! STOP!!!" Ryo cupped his hands over his mouth and shouted to no avail. Even from inside the shield the Ronin could see the almost blinding glow coming from the dragon's mouth. The crackling reached a crescendo.

The air hissed from a whisper to a boom then snapped as Raurgoth pitched forward and opened his jaws wide. The explosion of compressed air and gas that erupted from his mouth shamed the flames of a shuttle launch and smoke and steam billowed up in immense clouds that surged higher than the barrier. Shannon gasped when she saw the water shield boiling away and stuck the tip of the claymore into the ground then dragged it infront of her in an arc. The pavement split and a wall of earth curled up, shielding her, Kayura, and the smaller Incarnations.

"It's…so beautiful…" the reporter remarked in awe as she faced the display. The heat radiated as far as the downed chopper. The pilot pulled his jacket up to try and shield his face, and the cameraman turned away. "Keep filming!" The cameraman pointed the lens at the dragon.

The Ronin had to shield their eyes from the intense violet glow as the barrier rippled madly. Raurgoth's sides sank in as he emptied himself of air and gas. Bright orange fire continued to spew out of his mouth. Windows of nearby buildings liquefied almost instantly and anything metal-cars, parking meters, signposts- collapsed into molten heaps. Just as it seemed Raurgoth would keep expelling fire until he withered to a skeleton, he threw his head up and snapped his jaws shut. His chest had lost a third of its girth. He flapped his wings several times to drive away the smoke. The shield rippled, even buckled slightly. Still it did not break.

Soot stained the sides of buildings facing Raurgoth and the shield, and all around his feet the pavement had become a steaming, smoldering soup of tar and asphalt. The earthen shield Shannon had erected glistened like a mirror. Shannon and Kayura stepped out from behind the glass wall. "WHOOO! BOY is that a stink!!" Shannon remarked and held her jacket over her nose and waved her hand over her face. Kayura clamped one hand over her nose and blinked from the residual heat and ash. The two flinched upon hearing an ear-shattering shriek.

Raurgoth screamed in fury and began punching the shield repeatedly. He curled his arms and sliced at it with the long black spikes on his elbows and the air howled as he lifted his tail and began whipping it, slamming it against the still-intact barrier.

"Why…why…WHY did the Ancient pick a *_European_* dragon to be Inferno?" Kayura muttered and shook her head, massaging her brows with her fingertips.

Back on the roof of the skyscraper, Ryo was doing the same expression. Sehkmet still stood next to him and cocked his head to one side. "You know…dragons were famous for having short tempers and being impulsive and reckless…you two have a lot in common."

"You!...uuuugh…" Sehkmet leaned back when Ryo leered at him and pointed at his face briefly before returning to his brooding. The other Ronin grimaced sympathetically. Sage frowned and looked skyward when he heard a distant crackling. Bolts of energy shot down towards nearby rooftops. New Gargoyle Soldiers materialized wherever the bolts struck.

"Well…guess that answers *_that_* question," Cye muttered and returned to his corner.

Back outside, something glowed brightly before detonating in a spray of violet energy close to Raurgoth's talons. The barrier dimmed ever so slightly.

"Did you see that?" Shannon blinked and elbowed Kayura out of her brooding. "I don't know why I didn't think about this before…" Shannon turned the hilt of the claymore around and tilted it sideways. She crouched down and peered through the Strata Sapphire. She saw everything as if through blue glass except a loose string of glowing violet objects. "Kayura, come look at this!" She leaned away to give the Staff-Bearer room. Kayura leaned over.

"Crystal anchors! That's what's empowering the shield! The spillover heat from Raurgoth's dragonfire must've damaged it, causing the shield to weaken. However, if it took dragonfire to affect one…" Just then Foam Reaver jumped up and came crashing down close to the barrier, jaws wide open. The shield dimmed once more. "Lyor, can you and the others see those?"

African Wildfire nodded eagerly and roared. He and the other Incarnations took off in either direction along the outer edge of the shield. Foam Reaver vanished entirely as he dove beneath the shield itself.

"…He said he didn't know they were edible until now…" Shannon muttered.

"Raurgoth!! Aim your dragonfire for the *_base_* of the shield instead of the shield itself!!" Kayura cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. The dragon nodded and began repeating his actions from earlier. "It'll take him time to power-up for another blast."

"In the meantime…let's find a better spot," Shannon ran away from the dragon's position.

"I dunno how much longer we can keep this up!" Kento worried.

"Can our clawnchers run out of ammo?" Cye asked.

"I'm not sure I wanna find out," Sage replied. The Elder Ronin worked feverishly on their sides, and Ryo and Rowen continued their patrol. Ryo spun in the air, his wings furling out, and the shredded remains of any nearby soldiers fell towards the ground. He frowned when he spotted a large cluster of soldiers coming up Dais' side.

"Scoot back!" he called. Dais frowned in confusion but obeyed as Ryo landed on the edge. He closed his fingers around the limbs and held them straight at the oncoming horde. Sparks formed between the wing-blades and formed a faint spiral along the length of the blades. The sparks solidified into a funnel and Ryo jerked his wings up after discharging a powerful burst of flame. Windows shattered from the heat and almost every soldier on that wall collapsed, missing limbs or even torsos and heads. The display drew startled glances from the other defenders.

"Mine are still better!!" Kento hollered. Ryo grinned and took to the air once more.

Outside, Razor Wing grabbed an invisible crystal in his beak and smashed it as if killing a snail. Boulderdash drove his hoof against another, shattering it. Iguadalupen took out several using his rolling attack. Foam Reaver devoured several more as he swam with his razor-filled jaws wide open. Jaguaradina swatted one away and grabbed it in her teeth before crushing it. Lyor opened his jaws wide and-like Raurgoth-roared flame, obliterating another anchor.

"The shield's weakening! Keep it up!" Ryo howled. The Ronin continued their desperate defense. By now for every one soldier they slew, two more clambered up behind it.

Air churned and crackled in Raurgoth's jaws as he inhaled deeply. Where it had been translucent before, the shield now appeared as thin and fragile as glass. Raurgoth took a shuddering step back and reared up before lurching forward. Once again, bright flames poured out of his jaws. The shield rippled from the powerful attack. On the ground, dozens of anchor crystals glowed from the stress before exploding. The shield vanished entirely.

Raurgoth hadn't even begun to recover from his effort before his body condensed into white light and sped towards the roof of the skyscraper. Six more colored streaks of light arced up into the sky. On the rooftop, the Ronin cried out in surprise as their armors formed suddenly. The Elder Ronin took advantage of their newly-formed weapons to lay waste to the most recent wave of soldiers, but for the AnimArmor bearers it was quite a different experience.

Ryo's gut flipped when he started to fall briefly as first his Wildfire armor appeared, then piece by piece was replaced by Lion armor, and finally White Dragon armor. He felt a heavy weight coming from his right hand mid-flap and realized the dragon lance had formed and the fully-formed wings spreading from his back kept him aloft. The transition was less awkward for Rowen, since both his Ronin and AnimArmors were capable of flight. Tanya squawked in surprise when her clawnchers vanished, briefly replaced by her Typhoon launchers before the upgraded Jaguar gatlings appeared. Sage almost fell off his perch when he saw pieces of Halo form on his body before changing rapidly to Iguana. The long spined tail draped out behind him allowed him to regain his balance.

"Whoa…that was some wonky 'armor-lag' there…" Cye muttered and shook his head. Opposite of him, Kento rubbed the horned helmet of his Ram armor.

"Now that we got some *_real_* firepower, let's send these things packin'!" Rowen reached for his Eagle ring, attempting to revert back to Strata.

"No." Rowen paused and looked at Ryo, who landed on the roof and tucked the dragon wings in. "It was only because of the AnimArmors that we were able to survive this long. I think it's only fair we return the favor by giving them some time in the spotlight." Ryo twisted the insignia back to Lion, and his armor changed accordingly. "You four stay back. We'll handle this," Ryo said to the Elder Ronin. They backed up and watched as the AnimArmor bearers took up positions along the roof edge. Every remaining soldier in the area amassed at the bottom of the building for a final rush. The tufted tail of the Lion armor lashed in anticipation.

The thick plates forming the helmet and shoulders of the Lion armor seemed to bristle, and the edges glowed faintly. Ryo held the Lion shield out to the side and crouched before leaping into the air and diving down along the wall. The plates rose more and fire spewed out of the edges. "FLAMING ROAR!!" His body seemed to become a flaming missile, and his plunge annihilated every soldier on that one side.

The spines running from the top of the Iguana helmet all the way to the tail began glowing with different colors. Sage coiled his whip before leaping into the air much as Ryo had. Instead of diving, however, he flipped midair, lashing the tail in a wide arc. The spines discharged several motes of light which coagulated into a single shimmering disc of brilliant light. "SPECTRUM WHEEL!!" The disc spun down the wall and sliced through the ascending soldiers.

Cye clipped his glaive to his belt and held his arms together until the tips of the upgraded Shark harpoons nearly touched. The edges glowed and, as with his Super Wave Smasher, drops of water pulled in from the air and roiled about his arms. "TIDE BREAKER!!" A rolling wedge of water surged down over the wall, crushing and smothering the Gargoyle Soldiers.

Kento didn't need to focus on harnessing his power. He *_was_* power and all it took was striking the edge of the roof with his ram-headed mace. "SEISMIC WAVE!!" The entire wall rippled and shattered, raining huge chunks of concrete and steel unto the constructs.

A huge contingent of soldiers had taken to the air before the four attacks cleansed the sides of the building, and flying constructs filled the air above the roof. Rowen hovered by the North side. He spun his axes in his hands and held them out before drawing in, touching his chest with the tips. "VOID SURGE!!" The flying constructs writhed as an invisible force smothered them. Wings tore, armor popped, and a huge cloud of red mist wafted through the air.

At the same time along the South face, Tanya held her Jaguar daggers together. The ornate hilts shifted until they lined up to form the symbol of the Jaguar. "HURRICANE SHRIEK!!" An immense swirling avatar of wind and savage fury lunged into the flock with such force, it drove their crimson Nether essence out before disintegrating their armored bodies.

Ryo leapt back onto the roof and raised his shield high. "Awesome job everyone! Uh oh…" he frowned when he felt the building shudder. The AnimArmor bearers changed back to Ronin Armor and the ten joined hands before flashing out of sight. From the safe vantage of a distant rooftop, they watched as the office building sank straight down, collapsing into a pile.

"Okay…I'm gonna have to blame that one on Kento," Rowen jerked a thumb at him.

"Hey!! It was structurally unsound, I tell ya! It's totally, like, more than thirty years old!"

"Eh…at least we won't be out of work," Cale shrugged. Ryo glanced at him. "We didn't tell you? The three of us got jobs as construction workers for the city."

"'Building a better Toyama, one beam at a time'," Sehkmet recited proudly.

"That's cool. Nice to see you giving back to the city."

"Yeah, and now that the crisis is over, I think there's a matter that needs addressing." The others looked at Tanya as she dismissed her Typhoon armor and changed to Jaguar sub. She held her claw blades at her sides and fixed angry bronze-brown eyes on one person.

"….what? Oh come on…You can't possibly still be sore about that comment I made about you being flat-chested," Kento shrugged and waved his hand. Ryo raised an eyebrow at him but remained silent as he watched the confrontation unfold. "I tease the guys like that all the time."

"In case you've forgotten; I'm not a guy!" Tanya snarled and seemed to bristle.

"…well you coulda fooled me…OOP!" Kento clamped his hands over his mouth again.

"I'm gonna be gracious and give you a head start. When I count to one, I'm going to give you a throttling of Biblical proportions."

"Tanya, we're both mature, reasonable adults. I'm sure we can settle this-"

"Five."

"In a mature and reasonable manner. I may have said some things-"

"Four."

"That upset you, but I forget that you don't have a sense of humor-"

"Three!"

"Like the rest of us, and can get easily offended-"

"TWO!!"

"Yipe!!" Kento changed into Ram sub-armor quickly and bounded away. Tanya watched him leave but didn't count to one when she crouched and pounced after him. The other Ronin watched an orange blur spring from rooftop to rooftop, followed quickly by a pink blur.

"You're not gonna intervene?" Sage asked Ryo as their gazes followed the chase.

"Naw. Times like these it's best to let her get it out of her system." Their heads turned from side to side as the blurs streaked past once, then again.

"Wow…he really is giving her a run for her money…" Cale commented.

"I'll say…"

* * *

"That…was…totally…UNBELIEVABLE!! Journalist of the Year, here I come! Check the tape!" the reporter ordered as she danced in joy. The cameraman set the camera on its side and thumbed the loading panel open. His eyes widened and he picked the camera back up then tilted it to the side slightly. A shimmering black liquid with the consistency of chocolate syrup poured out into a puddle on the rooftop. The reporter froze and her eyes widened when she saw this.

"Erm…I think the heat from the…uh…dragon's breath…must've damaged the film…" the cameraman said sheepishly. The pilot winced but returned to his repairs on the chopper.

The reporter started shuddering all over then collapsed to her knees and clutched the sides of her head. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Her anguished scream echoed through several blocks, over the smoking crater from Raurgoth's attack, the ruins of the collapsed skyscraper, and the various hole-riddled apartments and the parking garage.

* * *

A small group of Gargoyle Soldiers ducked into a darkened alley. Each one lugged a plastic container the size of a small ice chest. "Mistress, we retrieved the remains just like you said."

"Is every piece accounted for? If so much as a sliver is missing, it won't be just your bodies that suffer…" a tall shadowy form narrowed golden-yellow eyes.

"The mortals were very meticulous in retrieving and cataloguing the remains. It made it all the more easier for us to find them while the Ronin were trapped."

"Good. Return to the fortress. I'll wait here for further orders."

"But the portal will seal up. Are you sure-"

"I can still come and go as I please, so worry about yourselves!" the figure leered at them. The soldiers cowered then nodded eagerly before running into the brick wall. The wall rippled and swallowed them up. Large shadows spreading from the figure's shoulders folded tightly. "She said He had contingency plans upon contingency plans. This is just one of them. He didn't live as long as He did without planning ahead. Soon enough, it will come to fruition…"

Talons crunched into brick as the shadow climbed to the rooftop. Dark wings unlike those of the Gargoyle Soldiers spread and flapped, and the figure glided into the night just as the first colors of sunrise crept up from the horizon.


	6. Daughter of the Ages

Daughter of the Ages

By Mardrena

_*She knelt on a small pillar of rock surrounded by darkness. On another pillar merely a few feet away, stood a tall figure bound with ribbons ranging from dark blue to brown and gold. Loose strips fluttered around him, as if alive, and obscured his face. She could only see his auburn hair and sharp green eyes. They reached for each other, palms within an inch of touching. She saw sadness and shame in his eyes, and always, it seemed the ribbons kept them apart…*_

Strands of her black hair clung to her cheek as she sat up abruptly with a sharp gasp. The rushing wind coming over the edge of the truck cab dried the tears as quickly as they left her eyes. The straps of her backpack fluttered in the air and the beaded tassels of her jacket rattled against the floor of the bed. "Always…it's the ribbons that bind him…" she sobbed. The driver remained oblivious to her grief. He'd agreed to take her to the suburbs, and along the way she slept in the back, but it seemed the closer she came to her goal, even short naps in the most uncomfortable of resting spots resulted in the same dream.

She sat up and looked around, studying the area, before rapping her knuckle against the window to get the driver's attention. He brought his vehicle to a stop and waited till she climbed out to the side of the road. She waved her gratitude as he drove away then turned to face the highway. The next stage of her journey would require a different transport. She held her arm out to the side with her thumb pointing upward. While other women her age and in her position would've resorted to flirtation to flag down help, she stood straight and proud.

A car slowed down and pulled up close to her. "Why hello there!" the driver greeted.

"Need a lift, Little Chief?" the passenger asked, referencing to her leather jacket adorned with beaded tassels and her beaded headband with a long feather hanging from the side.

"Erm…yes, I do," she wrinkled her nose, slightly offended by the comment, but she couldn't really be picky at this point. She reached into the pocket of her denim shorts and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and tried to smooth it out. "Could you take me to this address, or if not, tell me if I'm close and I can walk there myself?" she held the paper out for them to see. The passenger took it and the driver leaned over to read. Their eyes widened in horror.

"Whoa! You wanna go to the Koji place? No way!!"

"Too much weird stuff happens there!" The driver promptly stepped on the gas and the car sped away. The paper fluttered away, and she nearly fell into oncoming traffic trying to catch it, but managed to seize it and catch her balance before stepping back onto the shoulder.

"So much for courtesy…" the girl snorted and glanced at the paper again. She'd never left her home state, yet one night she'd awoken to find she'd scrawled words and numbers down on paper. It'd taken a lot of research to learn that it was an address to a very real location near Toyama, Japan. "I don't see what the big mystery is…it's just an address. Well, I must be close." She shouldered her backpack and took off walking along the highway.

* * *

Awed children stood on the piers in their swim trunks and bathing suits, held back by frightened parents. An elderly man sat in a small boat that rocked almost constantly. He and everyone else gathered along the shore of the lake stared wide-eyed at the massive white form thrashing about in the water close to the opposite side.

Raurgoth submerged himself up to the base of his neck then stood up waist-high in the water, sending waves of tidal-proportions in all directions. Birds squawked in protest as the waves all-but flung them out of the lake. The churning didn't stop especially when the White Dragon shook his wings and shrugged his shoulders. He rolled backwards slightly and sagged down then shoved upward, rubbing his spines into the soil hard enough to alter the shoreline.

On one of the piers close to the bathing dragon stood a white-armored figure. Long swatches of fabric hung from his arms, which were folded over his chest. He reached up and placed two fingertips against his eyebrows and shook his head. "Allright, Raurgoth? The only reason I agreed to let you do this was that you promised you wouldn't make a scene, and…you're making a scene." Raurgoth continued blissfully scrubbing his back. "That does it, back you go-AACK!" Ryo recoiled as he found himself staring at his blurred reflection in Raurgoth's nose plate. Water dripped from the exposed killing fangs. Steam drifted through his teeth.

"OKAY OKAY! I'll let you finish!!" Raurgoth withdrew and returned to his bath. "Dragons…" Ryo muttered and shook his head again. Raurgoth reached deep below the surface of the lake and bobbed back up, holding a fistful of lakebed silt in his talons. He stood up again and began smearing the mud all over his armpits, thoroughly coating his white hide before submerging again to rinse. "At least tigers can fit in the tub…"

Far away from the lake, a solitary figure walked up the driveway. She passed by a mailbox and paused to read the address: it matched her directions perfectly. How could such a picturesque location inspire terror? The girl took a deep breath before exhaling. "Well…here goes…" before she could take another step, however, a loud rustling from the dense bushes to the left made her pause again. She assumed she startled some birds, or maybe a household pet.

What emerged to block her path reminded her of some of the knitted woolen blankets the gift shop in her home town offered for sale, but those images did no justice to the majestic white creature. It regarded her with brown eyes, which she found unusual since most white tigers had blue eyes. It seemed more welcoming than wary, and the girl took a step towards it. It stepped towards her as well, and as they came near, she slowly sank to one knee and lowered her backpack to the ground, extending her left hand just as the tiger approached.

He thrust his head under her open palm and pushed up slightly, humming in pleasure. The girl reached out with her other hand and stroked the thick spikes of fur along his cheek. "A man must be very special indeed to have a totem beast such as you…" she whispered. The tiger purred as she continued stroking the top of his head. Then he pulled back slightly and opened his mouth. He closed his teeth around her wrist gently and tugged. "You want me to come with you? Lead the way then," the girl said and picked up her backpack and stood. The tiger released her and padded towards the door while the girl followed. He reached up with his mouth and grabbed the doorknob, turning it jerkily then head-butting the door open and entering the house.

The girl stepped inside and glanced about the clean interior before nudging her dirt-encrusted boots off onto a woven mat. The shoes of many people rest on it, and she wondered what she could expect from such a household. She jumped upon hearing the tiger roar, though he didn't sound angry. He seemed to be trying to call someone.

Anubis scowled in annoyance and took off his reading glasses and dropped his book on his chair as he stood. "For Heaven's sake, Whiteblaze I'm right upstairs," he shouted as he headed for the door. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Keep your fur on!" Anubis made his way downstairs and headed towards the foyer. "What could possibly be so urgent to justify-" Anubis had the breath knocked out of him as someone practically pounced at him, latching around his neck.

"It's you! It's really you! I knew it had to be you! I wasn't sure until I heard your voice, but it *_IS_* you! I thought I was going crazy when I had those dreams!" The person pulled away just enough for Anubis to see it was a girl, roughly as old as Tanya, with straight black hair reaching to just below her shoulders. She looked up at him with ecstatic dark-green eyes. "I knew the spirits had to be right, they're *_always_* right! All these years and I've finally found you!" She hugged him again, but Anubis gently reached up and wriggled away.

"I-I'm sorry, but, who are you?" Anubis asked and raised an eyebrow. The girl's expression plummeted and she moved back slightly.

"…Of course…I should've anticipated this…" the girl said to herself and looked down. "Why else would you have left without leaving any contact info or sending any mail if it weren't for some sort of trauma amnesia!" Anubis frowned, still confused about what the girl babbled about. She smiled weakly and shrugged. "My name's Michelle…I'm your daughter."

Anubis had never looked or felt as shocked as he did then.

* * *

"…She says she's from Arizona and that she lives in a small town close to the Four Corners. She claims to have been guided here through visions, and she sincerely believes that I am her long-lost father…I find it very difficult to believe or deny her," Anubis whispered as he watched the girl named Michelle as she sat at the far end of the dining table petting Whiteblaze.

"She might not be telling the truth. For all we know, she could be some sort of fraud manufactured by the Dynasty to spook you," Rowen hypothesized.

"I dunno, Whiteblaze is usually pretty sensitive to that sort of thing, and he's taken right to her," Ryo shrugged.

"He could be ensorcelled," Anubis argued. The three of them glanced at Michelle as she started giggling when Whiteblaze began licking her palm.

"…yeah, that's not his ensorcelled face," Ryo commented. Anubis shook his head.

"It can't be possible. At the time she was born, I was still in the Nether Realm…wasn't I?" Rowen and Ryo exchanged glances then looked back at him. Rowen shrugged, and Anubis frowned. "What's wrong with me if I can't even remember my own past?"

"Anubis, maybe all those times you died and came back scrambled your memories-"

"Ryo, I remember the first time I ever killed a man." Rowen glanced at Michelle. So far, Whiteblaze was doing a good job of keeping her distracted. "I remember when I first received my armor, and I remember in *_vivid detail_* every time I kicked the crap out of you and the other young Ronin." Rowen glanced back at Anubis and noticed Ryo's sour expression. "I should remember *_her_*…and yet I don't…" Anubis looked at the girl, scowling with worry.

"Well, when Mia gets here with Kayura, we can verify her story," Rowen whispered. Just then they heard the distant click of the front door opening.

"We're back! Sorry I'm a little late, but traffic was rough. You go on in; I still have things I need to get from the car…" Mia nodded to Kayura, who thanked her and entered the room. Kayura walked towards the girl sharing company with Whiteblaze. She had to admit, she could see some resemblance…though that could merely be a chance commonality.

"Hello, my name is Kayura," the Staff Bearer extended her hand in greeting.

"Michelle Lonely Coyote," the girl replied and returned the handshake. Kayura pulled out a chair and dragged another one into position just opposite of Michelle.

"Anubis, you sit here." Kayura motioned for Anubis to seat himself opposite of Michelle. Rowen and Ryo walked over to the wall but maintained their distance. "Both of you hold out your hands…try to keep as still as possible. Fingers straight, palms forward…" Michelle cautiously raised her arm. She shuddered briefly: this seemed eerily familiar…

"It's allright. Kayura knows what she's doing. You can trust her," Anubis gently assured. Kayura noticed how his voice seemed to calm the girl.

"I'm going to see if a divination ritual can shed some light on the situation," Kayura began as she took the chair to the side and set the lower end of the Staff on the floor. Michelle glanced from Kayura to the ornamented top several times, bewildered.

"Are you a shaman?" she chirped. Kayura looked at her, startled.

"Uhhh…we don't really use that word in this region…though, I guess it can be considered the same line of work…" she muttered absently then shook her head to focus. "Hopefully this can tell us in seconds what would take medical tests hours…" Kayura held her hand in the air over Anubis and Michelle's hands and closed her eyes.

Michelle glanced from Kayura to Anubis, who looked quite nervous himself despite his best efforts to show otherwise. Whiteblaze remained at her side, bolstering her with his presence. Ryo and Rowen observed quietly as Kayura began chanting under her breath.

One ring began moving, and Michelle almost jumped out of her seat. She looked at the top of the Staff, eyes wide as a second ring began bobbing up and down on its own. Anubis glanced from his hand to Kayura, but he seemed to avoid looking at Michelle directly. Whiteblaze's ears twitched in anticipation as eventually all six rings began spiraling wildly. Anubis glanced at the Staff again, not sure whether the motions indicated good or bad. Michelle's gaze kept shifting from Anubis to the Staff then to Kayura as the individual clangs of the rings melded into a frenzied hum. Ryo and Rowen weren't sure what to think themselves.

The rings fell silent abruptly and Kayura's eyes snapped open. She let out her breath in a sharp gasp and withdrew her hand. Her mouth moved as if unable to put the results to words. "Anubis..." Kayura looked at him jerkily. "This child is your *_flesh and blood_*!"

"It's true! It *_is_* true! I knew I wasn't crazy for believing!" Michelle sprang forward and wrapped her arms around Anubis' neck again. "You have no *_idea_* how *_happy_* this makes me!" she sobbed and buried her cheek against the collar of his jacket. While Michelle rejoiced, Kayura, Ryo, and Rowen had an unobstructed view of Anubis' face.

They'd never before seen him look so terrified.

* * *

"I thought Ryo was off his rocker when he told us, but apparently she's the real deal…"

"Yeah, but look at her! She's no older than I am…"

"Hey! You know what that means? Anubis isn't a virgin!"

"Is your head always in the gutter?"

While she talked to Ryo and Kayura, Michelle glanced at the four talking about her. She had no idea her father knew so many people…or that her arrival would cause such controversy.

"How the hell could Anubis father a child?" Cale grumbled.

"I know, right? Where does he go off meeting a woman without telling us?" Dais said.

"No, I mean *_how_* could he! Talpa didn't let us into the Modern Age until the First War." Behind them, Sehkmet seemed content not to participate in the debate and remained silent.

"Oh that…I dunno…come to think of it, *_I_* can't even remember what I was doing twenty years ago," Dais began scratching the side of his head.

"Now you got *_me_* worried!" They looked forward when a chair scraped against the floor.

"Allright, listen up everyone! Apparently there's been a series of unexplained disappearances in Michelle's home town and it sounds like something that warrants our attention. We'll be going to Arizona with her," Ryo announced as he stood up.

"Arid whata?" Cale wrinkled his nose.

"It's in the States. A little trip around the globe might be fun for you," Rowen smirked.

"Wait, are you all paranormal investigators?" Michelle asked, startled by the announcement.

"Er…sort of…" Ryo wrinkled his brow and averted his gaze.

"Well I appreciate the offer, but I'm not sure how you plan on making the trip. I could only afford a one way ticket here…and now that I think about it, I'm not sure how I planned on getting back…or if I planned…but still, that's way too much money to spend on my behalf."

"You leave that part to Rowen." Whiteblaze padded alongside Michelle as she followed Anubis while the others gathered in a loose circle. "Sorry Whiteblaze, but I'll need you to stay here. We can take care of Michelle." The tiger didn't look pleased, but complied. Michelle couldn't help but feel troubled by his absence. She flinched when the tall blue-haired man named Rowen stepped infront of her and reached toward her face.

"It's okay, I just need to get a location from your mind," he assured and closed his eyes as his fingers touched the side of her head. Michelle wasn't sure what to make of that or of the curious faint glow in Rowen's eyes as he opened them. "Behind the gift shop okay?"

"The gift shop? How did you-"

"Join hands everyone," Ryo ordered. The three older-looking men along with the brown-eyed girl and the other younger males joined hands in the center of the circle, followed by Ryo and Anubis. Michelle's eyes widened when Rowen's clothes vanished, revealing strange royal blue and black clothing. She started to feel very nervous, while Anubis didn't seem to mind.

"ARMOR OF STRATA!!!" The air surrounding Rowen distorted, and Michelle wasn't sure how to react upon seeing him wearing a suit of ornate royal blue and silver armor. "Maintain contact. Here goes!" Rowen placed his hand atop the pile and closed his eyes. Michelle glanced from Rowen to the others' hands then at Anubis. Colored rings of light appeared over the group before expanding to surround them. The rings began moving up and down, and Michelle felt like a headlight-entranced deer. She clutched onto Anubis' arm as the rings swept down again.

"Ease your death grip on me, child!" Michelle dared open her eyes when she heard Anubis. She glanced at the others, who didn't seem at all surprised by the change in scenery. Rowen wore normal clothes, and Michelle found it hard to believe or remember seeing his armor.

"Don't worry. You'll get used to that." Michelle looked from her shoulder to the round-faced man who'd put his hand there. "As long as you're with the Ronin Warriors, you'll be safe."

"Kento, kindly remove your hand from my daughter lest you find yourself unable to pick up a sandwich for the rest of your natural life," Anubis said stiffly. Kento stared at him wide-eyed and slowly drew back his hand, but Michelle kept glancing at him.

"When it comes, do not be afraid, for it is merely an aspect of you, it isn't *_you_*!" The others looked confused by the remark. Michelle flinched and clamped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry… The spirits often speak of such things, though sometimes they tend to blurt it out…"

"You're clairvoyant?" Anubis raised an eyebrow.

"Not really. My teacher says I'm just sensitive to certain presences. That's probably why I reacted to him when he touched me," Michelle looked at Kento apologetically.

"…Is she flirting with me?" Kento leaned to the side and whispered to Sage, who emphatically mouthed "no" and shook his head in disgust.

"We'll have to find a place to stay till morning. I always forget the time difference," Ryo commented and looked around town and up at the glittering sky.

"There's a hotel just a block down the street," Michelle suggested.

"Sounds good. Lead on." Michelle walked ahead of the group with Anubis following beside her. He never returned her glances, though she imagined he was having as hard a time adjusting to her as she was having understanding how they'd arrived in Arizona in the blink of an eye.

* * *

The wooden bat-wing doors to the saloon-style grocery store swung open violently and a stocky figure walked out onto the porch, boots thumping against the wood. Kento squared his shoulders, looking smug. "Hee, always wanted to do that," he giggled and sauntered down the steps towards the sheltered picnic area close by. The others had taken seats among the four tables with Cale, Dais, and Sehkmet sitting at one, Rowen, Sage, and Tanya at another, Michelle and Anubis at the third, and Cye sitting alone at the fourth.

"It never ceases to amaze me how diverse the States are. You can take two steps in one direction and feel like you're in an entirely different country," Rowen remarked. Ryo stood close to a wooden rail and gazed out at the horizon where rolling desert hills and towering buttes dominated the landscape. He and the other young Ronin-except for Tanya, who refused to wear skirts-had picked out colorful western-themed outfits from the gift shop.

Sage looked up when Kento deposited a bulging grocery sack on the table. "Doesn't matter where you are, huh?" he commented as Kento seated himself next to him and began removing various products and a couple plastic utensils from the sack, setting them out on the table.

"Hey, a connoisseur such as myself has to keep an open mouth as well as an open mind." Sage rolled his eyes at that remark and snorted. "Here, try some of this; it's prickly pear jelly." Sage almost fell out of his seat recoiling from the goo-slathered slice of bread that Kento had practically shoved into his face. "It's okay, I'm fairly certain they took the pricklies out," Kento assured and offered the slice again. Sage accepted it warily and straightened himself.

"I suppose I'll take your word for it…" he muttered and took a small bite, humming in approval a second afterward.

"You got enough meat there, Cale?" Dais raised an eyebrow as he watched Cale layer slice after slice of deli-sliced beef atop a thick slice of bread with utmost care.

"Ryo said everything's covered, so I'm making the most out of it," Cale replied. Sehkmet seemed largely detached from the overall cheer and watched Michelle and Anubis. The former Warlord listened patiently as his daughter chatted about her life and studies, apparently hoping if she disclosed enough about herself, he would open up in kind.

Ryo walked over to Cye's table and sat down beside him. "You're not a fan of dry weather, are you?" he asked. Cye looked up at him sullenly.

"What on earth gave you that impression?" he grumbled as he refilled his glass with iced water from a large pitcher then took a huge gulp. Ryo chuckled.

"You could've stayed in Japan, you know."

"Yeah…but I kinda figured Anubis needed the support of friends…what with the understandable shock of finding out one has a biological daughter… Ryo, all this has me thinking; what if the Dark Warlords weren't at all that different from us?" Ryo listened quietly as Cye expressed his doubts. "What if, at some point, they were mortals just like us, and all that about them being from the feudal era was just a sham fabricated by the Dynasty to keep them under control? Can you imagine how awkward it would be if Dais has a family somewhere out there that comes looking for him now that he's settled down with Danae?" Sehkmet turned his attention to the conversation, and neither Ryo nor Cye seemed to notice him listening in.

"Ehh, I can understand Anubis, but somehow I can't picture Dais as being a father figure," Ryo commented. Cye chuckled then looked back at his glass. "I dunno what to tell you, Cye. Talpa took that knowledge with him to the grave. I even asked Kayura if she could see into Anubis' recent past, but she couldn't. She says some things can't just be revealed that easy."

"And now for the finishing touch!" Sehkmet turned his attention to Cale as he placed a slice of bread atop the miniature mountain of meat he'd crafted on his plate. "This is gonna be good…" Cale wiggled his fingers in anticipation and slowly reached down.

"KYEEAAHHH!!" Something large and feathery flew at him and landed on the edge of the table, flapping its wings and clawing with one taloned foot.

"AACK! Hey! Get away! Go! Get! That's mine! Get!" Cale tried swatting at the eagle as it scooted towards his plate. The eagle screeched and pecked at him. Cale grabbed a soda bottle and prepared to hit it when something soft smacked him in the side of the face.

"Leave him alone!! That's Itchyatukomi!" Michelle smacked Cale with her beaded jacket again. Cale shielded his face with one arm while he watched helplessly as the eagle began tugging at the meat of his sandwich, dragging it out and tearing at it with its talons.

"Is that your *_pet_*?!"

"I don't use the word 'pet'. It's offensive. He's my companion," Michelle stated firmly then walked back to her seat at the table she shared with Anubis. Cale wrinkled his nose then glanced back at Itchyatukomi as he picked apart the carefully stacked meat like the carcass of a small animal, ripping out large chunks and tilting his head back before gobbling them down whole. Tiny beads woven onto his feathers rattled as he ate. Then a German Shepherd wearing a bandana around its neck reached up and devoured the remains of the sandwich.

"By all means, help yourself. I wasn't hungry anyway…" Cale rest his cheek against his knuckles, sulking while the eagle glanced about then preened his wing briefly before resuming his meal. "You owe me a sandwich…" he grumbled in Michelle's direction.

"I was wondering how long it'd take them to find me. They probably expected me at the bus station, but there wasn't much of a scent trail for Mikita to follow when we teleported here…" Michelle glanced at Anubis, who smiled faintly. "That reminds me…you wouldn't happen to feel like explaining that part, would you?" Anubis shifted in his seat and looked at the other Ronin.

"It's quite a fantastic story…long one too. It begins nearly a thousand years ago…"

"Michelle!" Michelle looked to the side when she heard a familiar voice. "Michelle! There you are!! How could you just leave without saying anything? I've been worried sick about you. You've been gone for days!" Ryo heard the newcomer and glanced over at the young man that approached the picnic area. "Mikita couldn't find you anywhere but just today she sensed you were back. Then I saw Itchyatukomi head this way too…" Anubis turned around in his seat and looked up at the man who seemed to be friends with his daughter. The man saw Anubis and his eyes widened in shock. "Koma!!" the man exclaimed and took a step back.

"What did you call me?" Anubis raised an eyebrow.

"Jonathan, you know my father?" Michelle stood up. The black-haired man wore dusty beige pants and a denim vest over a white shirt, as well as an expression of disgust.

"Of course I know him. I was old enough to remember what your mother went through." Jonathan scowled at Michelle. "*_THIS_* is what you went out of county for? To find *_him_*?"

"Out of *_country_*, I found him in Japan! How could you know my father and not tell me?"

"Michelle, we've been over this a dozen times; you *_have_* no father," Jonathan scolded.

"Of course I have a father. It's not like a stork dropped me off in a cabbage patch."

"This isn't a joke! This man is nothing but a charlatan and a drifter! He ruined your mother's life after he left and I won't let him do the same to you!" Jonathan grabbed Michelle by the wrist and tried to pull her away. By now the commotion had drawn the attention of the other Ronin.

"Listen…I don't know what I may or may not have done all those years ago, but I can assure you I would never intentionally harm-" Anubis began apologetically and stood up.

"Don't you come anywhere near her!!" Jonathan shoved Anubis in the shoulder roughly, sending the Ronin Warrior staggering back and nearly knocking him off balance.

"Father!" Michelle started forward but Jonathan grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her back.

"He's *_not_* your father! Lonely Coyote, I'm trying to protect you from this monster!"

"Hey, cool off bud. I don't know what person you remember, but Anubis has been a loyal friend of ours for many years," Ryo tried to intervene and put a hand on Jonathan's shoulder. The hot-headed local swatted Ryo's hand away and whirled on him.

"Don't touch me! You're friends with *_him_*? Figures. Only foreigners would dress so tackily!" Jonathan spat. Ryo frowned, taken aback by the contempt in the man's voice.

"Let *_go_* of me, Proud Wolf!" Michelle tried to run to Anubis, but Jonathan yanked her back. Michelle tripped against the bench and fell to the ground, scraping her elbow.

"That was uncalled for! You-" Anubis stepped forward to confront him. Jonathan shoved him back again. Cale stood up, infuriated by the sight, but Dais grabbed his arm and pulled him back down, shaking his head. The other Ronin held back as well, watching as Anubis steadied himself.

"Don't try to pretend like you're being protective of her! She was too young to understand what you did to her mother. I won't let you deceive Michelle too! Get out of here!" Jonathan shoved Anubis again, but Anubis stood his ground, his expression becoming rigid as cold fury built up within. Ryo knelt down and helped Michelle stand. She watched anxiously as Jonathan continued bullying her father, the man Ryo called Anubis, but Jonathan called Koma. Sehkmet observed calmly, wondering how much more Anubis would take of this. "What are you still doing here, Koma? Leave! Leave like you did fifteen years ago! Don't ever come back!!" Jonathan reached forward and grabbed Anubis by his jacket collar.

Anubis' hand shot up and gripped Jonathan's wrist tightly. He started squeezing, enough for Jonathan to grimace from the pain. "…I would not pass judgment so quickly if I were you," Anubis began in a tone the other Ronin hadn't heard for a long time. Jonathan tried to pull away, but Anubis' hand might as well have been made of steel, not to mention his face as his expression didn't change at all. Then Anubis began twisting Jonathan's wrist very slowly. "I've seen more hell in one lifetime than you ever would in a thousand."

Tanya clamped a hand over her mouth and curled up in her seat, and Cale and Dais' jaws dropped upon hearing the muffled nauseating crack. Cye gasped and the others winced in sympathy. Sehkmet's lip curled in a satisfied smirk as he watched Jonathan collapse to his knees, screaming and clutching his forearm. Anubis stared down at the man, expressionless, before glancing up at Michelle and the others calmly. "If you will excuse me, I will be in my room." With that, Anubis turned around and took off walking swiftly towards the hotel.

Even though he'd returned to the light, every once in awhile the *_old_* Anubis would emerge.

"Michelle! Wait!" Jonathan croaked and tried to sit up when he saw her leave. He struggled to hold back tears as he held his ruined arm close to his chest and grabbed the edge of the table with his free hand. He looked up when Ryo leaned down and offered to help him up. Jonathan sneered and forced himself up on his own, instantly regretting it as his arm screamed with pain.

"Well I can see where *_that_* stereotype comes from," Ryo snorted and went back to his seat.

"Can you believe that guy?" Sage muttered.

"What a *_dick_*!" Tanya exclaimed.

"Hit the nail right on the head there, darlin'," Kento commented with a fake cowboy accent.

"How bout I hit *_you_* on the head?"

"Uhh…"

Jonathan scowled upon hearing the remarks but anger faded into worry as he looked in the direction Michelle had taken in pursuit of her father.

* * *

Anubis lay on his side with his head propped up on his knuckles and stared at the curtains despondently. A click drew his attention and he looked over his shoulder to see Michelle standing in the doorway. He rolled onto his side and swung his legs over until he sat on the edge of the mattress facing her. The two regarded each other silently for several seconds.

"…I'm sorry you had to see that," he apologized as Michelle walked over to sit beside him.

"I'm not. I wasn't sure if I could accept you as my father if you couldn't stand up for yourself. Besides, I'm more upset that Jonathan lied to me. I've always been lied to… When I was ten, the school wanted us to write about our parents, and when I asked Mom about you…she hit me. She told me to never mention you ever again, but she never told me why. No one did…" Michelle placed her hands on her knees and stared at the carpet.

"I was too young to remember what you looked like. I didn't even have any photos of you…Mother destroyed them all. It's as if she wanted to erase the very memory of you…but I clearly remembered your voice. That's how I knew it had to be you, because I recognized your voice and how gentle you sounded." Anubis averted his gaze.

"You would not think so fondly of me if you knew what I was…before you were born."

"I don't care about that person!" Anubis looked at her, surprised. "I care about the man I know! You're nothing like the man Jonathan remembers! You couldn't be, not with so many wonderful friends!" Michelle leaned against him, and Anubis smiled weakly. Then he frowned.

"My name was Koma at one point…I wonder if that might be my real name…"

"It certainly makes better sense. I mean, who names their child Anubis?" Michelle giggled.

"A very dedicated Egyptologist?" The two of them burst out laughing. Anubis fell silent and his expression hardened. "Michelle…" She raised her eyebrows and looked at him. "I don't remember you from back then. I can't remember the day you were born, or your first year growing up. I don't even remember your mother's name… all I have is this undeniable feeling in my gut that you *_are_* my daughter. I may never find out what sort of person I was or what I did all those years ago, but what I can do is live every day from now on with you in my life," Anubis said gently and looked at her. Michelle pressed her cheek against his shoulder.

"I couldn't be any happier," she said cheerfully. Anubis carefully placed his arm around her shoulders and squeezed. He couldn't quite describe what he was feeling at the moment. It seemed his mind had forgotten what it was like to feel joy.

* * *

"Maybe we *_should_* get ourselves badges. Would make a good cover identity," Rowen commented as he and Ryo walked away from the porch after interviewing another resident.

"Eh, maybe another time. I kinda prefer to freelance. So what does that give us? So far just this town alone there's been six children under the age of ten and nine senior citizens."

"From what I learned through the local newspapers, there's been almost fifty combined from the four neighboring counties, with the total sitting at close to one hundred in the entire state. Most of the police districts write them off as either being runaways or senile. You still think there's a connection between this and Michelle?" Rowen raised an eyebrow.

"There has to be, we're just not seeing it immediately because whoever's behind it all is building up to something big and doesn't want it known until it's ready. Think about it: why did Michelle just now learn about Anubis? Why not a year ago, or three when the Dynasty Wars started? If Michelle's sensitive to magical forces, these incidents probably triggered her dreams."

"He hasn't told her more…about himself, has he?"

"He'll tell her when he's ready. I'll have to admit she's adjusting rather well to the whole mystic armor thing. After all, she is his daughter," Ryo shrugged and they continued walking down the street. As they passed the doorway to a store, a tall figure watched them from the shadows. He looked like a kindly old man, but his eyes gleamed with malice.

* * *

"If you traveled to Japan on your own before, why do you have to tell this man that you might be leaving again?" Anubis asked while he watched Michelle go over various items and placing some in her backpack. She'd taken him to the house she and Jonathan shared, and while the latter was at the clinic getting his arm set, she went through her possessions.

"Well, William Walking Cloud is the tribal leader for the town, not to mention he's been like a grandfather to me. He started teaching me traditional shamanism. He thinks I have the potential to become a real shaman someday. There's not that many of them these days… Besides, he deserves to know especially since I *_didn't_* tell him I was leaving the first time. I think he knew I wanted to find you, and I should thank him for not telling Jonathan or Mother… I had to wait until after she passed to start saving up for the trip to Japan. If she knew what I was planning, she wouldn't have left me out of her sight."

"As subject to premonitions as you are, I'm surprised you haven't sensed anything about *_my_* past yet," Anubis walked over and leaned against a chair.

"Walking Cloud says it doesn't work that way. The spirits don't always tell you everything all the time. He says it would take the joy of discovery out of life." Michelle finished folding the last of six shirts and slipped them into her backpack then looked at him. "I know you'll tell me more when you're ready, but it won't change what I think about you now." Anubis smiled and waited for Michelle to finish packing until she finally zipped up her bulging backpack. "This should be it…I already called him earlier and he said he'd be at his home, so I should be ready to leave whenever. Erm…I'll try to not tell him about the whole teleporting thing, but knowing him he probably knows about that anyway," she muttered and handed over the backpack.

"You should ask your mentor about the disappearances, see what he thinks. Ryo believes a sinister presence is at work, and we cannot return to Japan until we've solved that mystery."

"Will do. I'll be back before sundown. If they get hungry check the fridge," Michelle nodded towards the porch where Mikita lounged and Itchyatukomi perched on the railing.

"I think they're thoroughly sated after plundering Cale's sandwich. I'll see you later," Anubis smiled and waved. Michelle waved back and took off jogging down the sidewalk.

William Walking Cloud was probably the only person in the entire county who lived in a hogan, the traditional Navajo dwelling. He believed in tranquility through simplicity…though his was likely the only hogan with electricity. He lived just outside town where civilization met sprawling desert wilderness. Most people in town only practiced the old traditions at special occasions, but he preferred to *_live_* them. After a few minutes of jogging the pavement beneath Michelle's boots gave way to reddish dirt and clumps of grass. Some residents kept cattle and other livestock in pens, but other than Walking Cloud no one lived outside of town.

"Walking Cloud? Are you there?" Michelle came to a stop before the entrance to the Hogan. Normally there would be light peeking around the edges of the woven cover or smoke drifting out from the roof, but nothing indicated that anyone was home. Michelle frowned and reached for the cover cautiously, not wanting to enter uninvited, but at the same time concerned. "Walking Cloud?" She pinched the edge of the cover and pulled back gingerly. She heard dirt crunch and looked over her shoulder.

"Ahh! Walking Cloud, I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have intruded, but you didn't answer and I got worried. My father wanted me to ask you about the disappearances. He says his friends might be able to help-…are you angry with me?" Michelle cringed when she saw the tall elderly man staring down at her with glittering dark eyes. His lips were pulled tight in a frown.

Michelle opened her mouth to apologize, but before she could utter a sound Walking Cloud's tanned face slowly contorted into a fierce grimace. He started growling and his lips peeled back in a snarl. Michelle's eyes widened in shock as canines lengthened into sharp fangs and wrinkled skin stretched over a steadily lengthening muzzle. His jeans and checkered shirt began tearing at the seams and the leather of his boots shredded as his thin frame began swelling and twisting into an inhuman shape. Michelle continued to watch, petrified by horror, as light brownish fur sprouted all over his body and the thin tail that grew out from his backside.

It faintly resembled a coyote only it stood on two feet instead of four. It wore a plain loincloth around its waist and various golden charms and other baubles woven into its fur around its shoulders and chest. Beaded bands wrapped around its arms and wrists and ankles. It leered down at her and reached out with gnarled hands. Michelle screamed as loud as she could, but this far outside town, no one would see or come to her rescue.

* * *

Anubis watched the sunset from the porch. Itchyatukomi had flown off alone just after Michelle left, so only the German Shepherd-coyote hybrid Mikita remained with him. She rose up next to him and set her paws on the railing and her chin between them. "I don't suppose you remember me from back then?" Mikita glanced up at him and twitched her ears. "Of course you don't. You would have to be over fifteen years old and if I'm not mistaken in dog years that would make you as old as me," Anubis chuckled and rubbed Mikita's head. "I can't even be sure how old I am anymore. Am I forty or four hundred years old?" Mikita wagged her tail idly, relishing the attention. "Talpa…what did you do to me?" Anubis scowled at the horizon.

"Koma?" Mikita looked to the side sharply and backed away from the railing. Anubis turned around and saw a tall elderly man with short silvering hair and sun-tanned skin. "Amazing… Fifteen years have passed and you don't look a day older."

"Have you come to judge me as well?" Anubis narrowed his eyes in warning.

"Of course not," the man chuckled and walked onto the porch, where Mikita greeted his presence with raised ears and a wagging tail. "It isn't my place to judge others. I sensed you were a man of many secrets back then. Your spirit had a certain…uniqueness to it, and I assumed you left to fulfill your role in the world. Laura, however, did not accept that as an answer. She lived every day hating and cursing your name, and in the end hatred withered her body and spirit."

"I wronged a woman I cannot even remember or ever apologize to…" Anubis sighed.

"Laura rested quietly after she passed. Perhaps in death she learned the truth about you. I'd like to think she was the one who sent Michelle her visions as a way of atoning for her own mistakes, and that seeing you reunited will ease her soul." The man Anubis assumed was William Walking Cloud leaned against the railing next to him. "Jonathan called me an hour ago and begged me to 'talk some sense' into Michelle. He was quite livid at the time and described how you 'accosted' him and threatened to take Michelle away. He has been like an older brother to her…and he can be overprotective and brash, which often backfires."

"I take it Michelle's informed you of our situation, then? That my friends would be willing to investigate these disappearances that have been plaguing your town?"

"…I haven't talked to Michelle since before she left to find you. I came here for just that reason, to talk with her," William frowned and gave Anubis a funny look.

"But, Michelle said she called you. She left to see *_you_* at your dwelling half an hour ago."

"That isn't possible. I was in town tending to Jonathan at the time…"

"Then…who *_did_* she talk to…" The two of them looked up when they heard panicked screeching. Anubis pulled his cuff all the way to his wrist and held up his right arm for Itchyatukomi to land on. The distressed eagle grabbed his arm with one foot but kept flapping his wings, hovering in the air and holding his other foot out. Anubis held open his free hand and the eagle dropped something onto his palm. "This from her jacket... Something's happened!"

"She was taken…" The two looked up and saw Jonathan walking towards them with his arm in a cast and supported by a sling. "People heard screaming from Walking Cloud's home just awhile ago. This is your fault! You brought evil with you, and now it's claimed Michelle!"

"Jonathan…" William cautioned, but Anubis didn't seem immediately offended.

"I tried to warn her about you, but she wouldn't listen. Now she will die because of you and your stranger friends!" Before Jonathan knew it, Anubis had him by the neck. He lifted him off the ground briefly with impossible strength then flung him back, causing him to land on his side. Jonathan cried out as the impact jarred his freshly set arm and looked up when Anubis stepped towards him, anger smoldering in his green eyes.

"I've had about *_enough_* of you and your false assumptions! You want to know what I did during my absence? I'll *_show_* you! ARMOR!!" Itchyatukomi took to the air when Anubis' clothing vanished, revealing dark blue armor. Jonathan could do nothing else but watch as thicker plates of armor manifested over his body, and a thick surcoat furled over his torso. He nearly wet himself when he saw his frightened reflection in the blade of the menacing sickle held infront of him and glanced up to see green eyes behind a monstrous-looking mask.

"You may be content to sit here and point the blame, but *_I_* am going to actually do something about the situation and *_find my daughter_*!" The Ronin Warrior turned to Mikita and knelt down, still holding the torn beaded tassel in his armored palm. "Mikita, can you use this to find Michelle?" Anubis held the tassel out and Mikita sniffed at it. She whined softly then let out two sharp barks, wagging her tail fervently. "Take me to her! Itchyatukomi, notify Ryo and the others!" Surprisingly enough, the eagle obeyed and took off into town.

Jonathan watched as Anubis and Mikita took off into the desert. He blinked and looked up when he heard Walking Cloud laughing richly. "A man of many secrets indeed…" he chuckled.

* * *

Michelle awoke to find her wrists bound behind her and secured to a wooden pole driven into the ground. She tried to slip her wrists out but something stronger than any rope kept her restrained. Michelle looked up and saw the bipedal coyote creature as he crawled around her in a circle, tracing various symbols in the dirt.

"You're the one behind the disappearances. You took those children and elderly people! What have you done to them?" she demanded. The creature looked at her and smiled.

"You'll learn soon enough when I'm finished," he chuckled and continued drawing. Michelle tried to lash out with her legs to disrupt some of his work, but her ankles were bound as well. "Would you like me to tell you the truth about your father?" Michelle glanced at him. "He still hasn't told you, has he? Hah hah ha! I bet he thought he could get away with not telling you about his former occupation. After all, why would he need to tell his *_adoring_* daughter about all the *_horrible_* things he's done in the name of the Dynasty?" The creature reached into a pouch at its waist and pulled out something. He then plucked a tiny gold medallion off his fur and tossed it at the ground a few feet away. Fire erupted into a small blaze at the spot, and the creature opened his hand and blew dust off of his palm. Smoke billowed up from the blaze.

Images formed in the wisps of smoke, and Michelle's heart leapt when she saw her father. "Your father was once one of our greatest warriors. He served our Dark Emperor, Talpa as one of his Demon Generals." Michelle's joy turned to dismay when she saw not a kindly man but a fearsome armored juggernaut with flaring hair and eyes glowing with evil might. "When the Dynasty invaded the Mortal Realm, he became the Ronin Warriors' most despised enemy…until he betrayed the Emperor and joined them.

"Those same Ronin Warriors murdered my family… I managed to escape, but I vowed to avenge my pack mates. However, a problem plagued me: how to extract my revenge." The creature paced around Michelle casually, while she knelt on the ground still trying to digest the revelations. "You see, their loved ones are ever close to them, and I couldn't get near them without drawing suspicion…but when I learned about *_you_*, I saw my revenge take shape. *_I_* sent you your dreams. *_I_* led you to Anubis, and in turn you led him to *_me_*. Imagine the pain it would cause to Anubis-who strives so hard to shed the crimes of his past-to lose the daughter he is just barely coming to know…I will let you live long enough for him to come to your rescue, only to see the fear in your eyes when I sacrifice you to fulfill my rites.

"As for all those nice, delectable civilians…I've already made use of them for my ritual. You see, centuries ago, before even I was born, *_our_* ancestors sealed an ancient and powerful evil in another world parallel to our own. My masters have expressed interest in securing this dimension as a staging ground, as well as the evil ones as new allies. However, the opening ritual required a hundred souls of the innocent and meek. *_You_* are the last one I need…"

"How *_dare_* you take the form of Coyote! He's a benevolent trickster, not a murderous beast! You're nothing but a dirty, vile animal!" Michelle spat.

"Why *_thank_* you for stating the *_obvious_*," the creature grinned and stepped back to survey his work. "The stars are in position, the symbols in place…all that remains is the final offering…" The creature reached down and pulled a jagged dagger out of its sheath at his belt and knelt down before her, holding the blade within an inch of her throat.

"KYEEAAAHHH!!" Hope flared in Michelle when she saw Itchyatukomi dive at the creature and rake his face, causing him to stumble back and smudge his own work.

"Meddling bird! Begone!" The creature slashed up, striking Itchyatukomi in the wing. Feathers drifted away and the eagle wheeled away screeching. "I suppose your father doesn't care about you enough. Only your pets come to your rescue."

"That assumption will be your last mistake, Kilhotah!!" Kilhotah's lips peeled back in a snarl and he looked up to see an armored figure standing on a windswept rock. To Michelle, it looked like a vicious monster with a red face and curved silver horns. Strangely enough, Mikita stood next to it, and after further study Michelle saw sharp green eyes behind the hideous mask.

"Ah ah ah! You wouldn't dare use your power. You'd risk harming your precious child, now wouldn't you?" Kilhotah jumped behind Michelle and grabbed her neck with one hand while he reached behind him with the other and retraced the smudged symbols in the dirt with a claw. Michelle saw the monster's eyes fill with worry. "Ha ha haa! My dearly devoured sister would have found this amusing. Imagine Anubis, the Dark Warlord of Cruelty; a concerned parent!"

"Face me in open combat, Kilhotah. Fight me man to man and leave her out of this."

"Do I *_look_* like a man to you? Anymore, at least? No, Anubis. You will learn the hard way that the Dynasty doesn't *_let_* traitors live happily ever after!" Kilhotah raised the dagger high, preparing to plunge it into Michelle's neck. Anubis cried out in anguish, and Mikita growled in rage; neither would make it in time to intervene. Kilhotah paused when a winged shadow flew over him. "Back again? You need another lesson in-OOF!" Michelle had to duck to avoid the raking talons of an enormous blue-feathered eagle as it grabbed Kilhotah by his arms and flung him back several feet. Kilhotah caught himself and stood. "You! I remember you! That means…"

"Your quarrel is with us, Dynasty dog! Leave the girl alone!" Michelle looked over her shoulder and saw Ryo and his companions, some of which were accompanied by various animals. The eagle flew over to perch on Rowen's outstretched arm. They all wore strange colored armor.

"My quarrel is with all Ronin Warriors!" Kilhotah reached down and pulled dozens of baubles off of his fur then flung them to the ground. Wherever one landed a swirling canine entity formed out of the dirt. "These won't be as easy for you to defeat like last time. I've empowered them with all my hatred and grief!" Dozens of earth-wolf minions stood ready to charge.

"Anubis! Save your daughter, we'll handle this!" Ryo called out and clenched his fist. "LION!!" The large red-furred lion standing next to him seemed to explode as it became a suit of armor that attached itself to Ryo's body. Other people she recognized as friends of her father likewise transformed into animal-themed suits of armor, except for Rowen, who let his eagle join the fray independently. The three older men donned armor that looked similar to the armor her father wore. While Kilhotah commanded his legions and summoned more servants, Anubis ran over to the stake and knelt behind Michelle. He removed his helmet and Michelle could see his face and hair out the corner of her eye. She looked down at the helmet.

"He said you once served them…" Anubis paused in reaching for his weapon and looked up.

"I did." he began slicing away at the ensorcelled cords binding Michelle's ankles. "The same armor I wear now I used to commit unspeakable atrocities against all who opposed me. The armor bears the spirit of Loyalty, and with it, I served my master without question. In his name, I wrought suffering unto the people I know today as friends. To them, I was known as the Ogre." Michelle remained quiet while Anubis undid the ropes around her wrist. "I told you you would not like me if you knew what I was before," he said sadly.

"And I told you I don't care about that man. I care about the man I know now!" Michelle said firmly and turned to face him. Anubis felt moisture gather at the corners of his eyes, but blinked it into submission and un-wrapped the ropes. Michelle stood up shakily, and Anubis stooped down to pick up his helmet. Instead of putting it on, however, he dismissed it into its energy form. "Let's get you out of here," he whispered and put his arm around her back.

Kilhotah glanced to the side and saw this. "NO! I won't be denied my revenge!" he clutched the large gold medallion he wore around his neck and pointed at the ground. The symbols etched into the red dirt flashed with red light and the ground beneath the two cracked and collapsed. Anubis cried out as he and Michelle fell into the glowing pit. "I've done it! I've avenged you my pack brothers and sisters! With the way open, the old ones are free!" Kilhotah cackled.

"KEEEOOOWW!!" Kilhotah's gaze snapped up as Razor Wing flew at him, joined by Itchyatukomi. The Strata Incarnation pecked at Kilhotah's face while the smaller eagle tore the gold medallion off with his beak. Kilhotah staggered back in an effort to avoid them, but unwittingly backed up to the edge of the pit, eventually toppling in.

Jonathan skidded to a stop upon seeing the terrific battle between the armored foreigners and wolf-like golems. He'd followed Itchyatukomi to the hotel but lost track of the foreigners when the blue-haired man somehow spirited them all away. Itchyatukomi seemed to know where to find them, so once again Jonathan followed him out into the desert. He knelt behind a tall saguaro and watched as those who wore animal-themed armor unleashed powerful energy attacks while the three menacing-looking warriors used their weapons in close-quarter combat.

He identified the lion-armored man as Ryo, and the rude girl as the jaguar. The piggish one wore ram-shaped armor, and the British man's armor resembled a shark. The thick-haired blonde wore lizard-like armor, and the blue-haired man stayed aloft with the aid of large swatches of cloth attached to his arms. Jonathan had no idea what these people really were, and what connection they had to Koma, but for some reason he recognized some of their armors…

"Michelle! Are you allright!" Anubis cried and looked down the wall of the pit.

"I'm here!" Michelle called back from where she clung to the rock. She tried climbing up, but it seemed the surface of the wall crumbled at the slightest movement. Any loose matter fell into the depthless, glowing void. Michelle looked over her shoulder and shuddered.

"Don't look down! Here, use this to climb to me!" Anubis gripped the rock securely with one hand while he grabbed his chain and lowered it down with the other. Michelle wove her fingers through the links tightly and slowly crept up along its length until she reached Anubis. "Climb onto my back. I'll get us out of here." Michelle obeyed and held onto Anubis' shoulders. Anubis began searching for suitable handholds and Michelle clung to him while he climbed.

Anubis heard Michelle yelp and looked over his shoulder when he felt her weight shift from his back to legs suddenly. His eyes widened in horror and rage when he saw Kilhotah hanging from her right ankle with one hand and clawing at her left with the other. Without his prime medallion, he couldn't use his magic to simply teleport away. Now he either planned to use Michelle to climb up and escape or drag her down with him.

"Let go of me!" Michelle kicked at Kilhotah's face. Anubis growled angrily but couldn't take action without jeopardizing his hold. Kilhotah whimpered and wheezed in desperation, and he scrabbled at Michelle's legs. "Let go of me!!" Michelle slipped slightly and now clung to Anubis' shins. Kilhotah showed no signs of compliance as he kept trying to grab Michelle's flailing left ankle. "I SAID LET GO!!" Michelle shrieked as loud as she could and drove down with her left heel with all the strength she could spare, striking Kilhotah in the face hard enough to crack his muzzle. The blow caused him to lose his grip, and he fell screaming into the pit.

Sehkmet paused after eviscerating a wolf golem when he sensed something. He looked over his shoulder and saw a steadily growing pit where Anubis and Michelle had once been. His armor began resonating, then glowing deep green until finally it let off a discharge of light that arced up towards where Ryo fought. Cye's Armor of Torrent responded as well as Rowen's Strata and Kento's Hardrock. Ryo himself seemed oblivious to the events at first, but noticed immediately when his Lion armor vanished mid-fight, giving way to Wildfire.

Anubis waited until he felt Michelle's weight return to his shoulders and resumed their ascent. All around them, the surface of the rock wall seemed to peel away bit by bit, the void sucking in whatever it could. "I…will not die…" Michelle blinked when she heard Anubis' whisper. "I will not die. All my life I've searched for something worth dying for…and now…that I've found something worth living…I WILL NOT DIE!!" he screamed and plunged his fingers into the rock each time he moved up. "I WILL NOT DIE!!" Michelle could hear it now; his soul screaming in defiance. "I WILL NOT DIE!!" They steadily approached the top of the pit.

Suddenly the surface of the wall cracked and peeled away. Anubis roared in protest as he and Michelle fell towards the void. As they flailed through the air, he managed to turn towards her, eyes full sorrow and regret. Michelle didn't look at him with hatred or disappointment, though. Her eyes only held peace and love…

They grunted from the impact as they landed on a rough dirt floor. Anubis rose to one knee and looked around. The walls of the pit seemed to surge upward, and the floor beneath them shifted. The portal had vanished, and now some strange power seemed to be sealing the pit. Not hesitating, Anubis grabbed Michelle around the chest and crouched, pouring all of his energy into a single powerful leap. Michelle watched, amazed, as they shot out of the pit and arced towards solid ground. Anubis landed on his feet then collapsed to his knees with Michelle beside him, both panting from the ordeal. They were surprised when they looked up and saw the gleaming white-armored figure *_hovering_* in the air.

To Michelle, it looked like an ancient sun god. Red and gold accents adorned parts of the pure-white armor, and ten wide tapering blades radiated from his back like the spokes of a wheel. Then Michelle saw friendly blue eyes, and recognized Ryo wearing the armor. Ryo returned his attention to the pit and began tracing strange symbols in the air with his index fingers. Michelle and Anubis looked behind them at the pit.

The edge of the pit slowly shrank as every grain of soil and every blade of grass returned to its position before the heinous ritual had began. Eventually the pit vanished altogether as the soil pulled upward, and Ryo used the power of Inferno to restore the area completely. The only thing that didn't return to the surface was Kilhotah's body.

Anubis smirked and looked back at Ryo. "Inferno II is just full of surprises, eh?" Ryo grinned back and alighted on the ground. The brilliant white armor vanished, leaving a red and silver suit in its place. The remaining wolf golems had crumbled in the absence of their master, and the other Ronin Warriors gathered around Anubis as he helped Michelle to her feet. "Now, there is no more doubt in my heart that you are my daughter," he said, smiling.

Michelle looked dismayed by the remark. "So…Kayura's divination, Jonathan's testimony, and the undeniable feeling in your gut wasn't proof enough?"

"You have a warrior's heart to match that of *_any_* Ronin. *_That_* is the final proof for me…my daughter," Anubis explained and placed his palm against Michelle's cheek. Michelle felt her eyes start watering and she jumped at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Dad!!" she sobbed in joy and buried her face against his armor collar. Anubis embraced her in kind, and this time let his own tears flow freely. For those that watched the two, it was likely the first time they'd ever seen him shed tears.

"Aww man…" Kento sniffled and reached for the straps hanging from Sage's shoulders.

"No!" Sage quickly brought a hand up to block him.

"*_You_* didn't summon the Inferno, did you?" Rowen whispered to Ryo.

"Nope," he smiled and shook his head. "Even though it doesn't have the sinister sentience the first one had…it still has a mind of its own," he commented.

"So, does this mean we should start calling you Koma?" Dais asked, grinning.

"Do that and I'll beat you senseless with your own spinal column," Anubis snapped, quickly shedding his joyful expression then regaining it just as quickly. Michelle giggled at the display.

"Yup, he's still Anubis," Cale commented.

Sehkmet stood slightly apart from the group, but he smiled nonetheless, apparently pleased with the outcome. Jonathan, on the other hand, watched the scene sadly from where he crouched behind the saguaro. Koma had gained a daughter, but Jonathan had lost a friend.

* * *

A normal human would've required the aid of a telescope or binoculars, but the solitary figure atop a butte a mile away observed the victorious Ronin perfectly with slitted yellow eyes. "Poor, poor Kilhotah…you wanted so badly to avenge your family… a shame, really …but it's not a total waste. The souls you gathered will provide a suitable welcome meal for the master."

* * *

The younger Ronin wore their western outfits again and lingered next to a cattle pen as they watched Michelle and Jonathan argue. Anubis stood by the rail and seemed calm. Michelle kept shaking her head while Jonathan kept pointing in the Ronins' general direction with his good hand. Then Jonathan seemed to plead with her, but Michelle shook her head firmly.

"Looks like her answer's 'no'," Cye muttered.

"Yeah, to him," Sage added. Tanya-who still wore her same worn jeans, pink shirt, and gray windbreaker- leaned against the fence with one foot resting over her knee. A small tangled mass of dead vegetation drifted past but caught on her shoelaces.

"GAAH! Get it off, get it off!!" Tanya shook her foot rapidly.

"Relax, Tanya. Haven't you seen a tumbleweed before?" Cye chuckled.

"No! And I don't want to ever again! Awww!" Tanya moaned when she found her shoelaces covered in burrs after disposing of the vile tumbleweed. She crouched down and tried to pluck them off while the others had a good laugh. Cale and Dais walked over to Anubis.

"Hey, Anubis…we were talking about your daughter coming back with us, and we just wanted to let you know that if she needs a place to stay and the estate's too crowded, she's more than welcome to live with us," Cale began.

"We'd be glad to make room for her. Cale even volunteered to give up his bed for her," Dais added. Cale gave him a funny look. "What, you don't expect her to sleep in a basket, do you?"

"That won't be necessary." The two looked at Anubis, whose eyes remained on Michelle as she patted Jonathan on the shoulder in consolation. "I've already discussed the matter with Ryo, and when we return I will ask Mia if she can help us locate a suitable dwelling in the city where we can live together." Anubis said with a smile and stepped away from the rail as Michelle walked towards him. Jonathan stood far away and watched her leave dejectedly. Anubis placed his arm around Michelle's shoulder, but paused just long enough to give Jonathan a triumphant warlordish smirk without Michelle noticing. Jonathan didn't say anything in response.

"Mikita and Itchyatukomi will stay here with Jonathan and Walking Cloud, so I'll always have a part of myself in Arizona. I've promised to visit too. That shouldn't be hard to arrange with him around, should it?" Michelle looked in Rowen's direction.

"Anubis is happily reunited with his daughter, we foiled the Dynasty's sinister plot, and Michelle'll be returning to us to live in Japan. Another day saved by the Ronin Warriors…" Kento commented and looked out at the pasture. "Ooh! Hey, you wanna go cow tipping like we did back in Osaka?" he asked Rowen and batted him in the arm slightly.

"Kento, when you tip a cow, you're supposed to knock it over; not into the next city."

"Pssh, that was the playful strength of youth," Kento scoffed and waved his hand.

"You were nine…"

"Fine, if you don't want to, I'll get my own cow." With that, Kento vaulted over the fence and crept towards the nearest idle bovine. "Heere cow cow…" Rowen rolled his eyes and looked over his shoulder at Anubis and Michelle as the other Ronin gathered together. "OHH CRAAP! AAAGH" Rowen glanced back at the pen as Kento ran past, being pursued by a very irate bull.

"Rowen, where's Kento? We have to get going," Ryo said. Rowen glanced at him.

"Busy," he replied simply as Kento ran past again, yelping in terror; the bull hot on his heels.

* * *

Jonathan Proud Wolf pulled back the tarp covering the entrance with his good hand. A battery-powered lamp hung from around the cast on his injured arm. He slipped inside and pulled the tarp back in place. Most of the excavation team stayed at home during the weekend, and no guards patrolled the area at this hour of night. Jonathan paused when he saw a open spiral-bound notebook resting on an ice chest. "…deviation of Hopi culture…pah!" he snorted and continued on his way. The idiots from the university-especially the vaunted Dr. Jamine O'Connor- had no idea what they'd uncovered, much less so than the native residents of the area.

What lie within was unlike anything anyone had ever seen before. The earliest reports stated that miners had found the shaft, thinking it to be an abandoned mine. Instead of gold, however, they'd found disturbingly perfect smooth walls covered with images belonging to neither of the major or minor Midwest cultures. A decade later, an ambitious oil tycoon claimed he'd destroyed entire sections of the shaft only to return the next day with his equipment to find the walls intact. Most historians believed he had to have been drunk.

Jonathan slowed his pace when he came upon the first images. They varied from depictions of people from the waist up to full-body drawings. The designs ranged from those of humans wearing clothing and armor to strange and exotic creatures. The only commonality was that they all had narrow triangular eyes. Dr. Jamine herself had commented that the drawings weren't painted onto the wall; they were painted *_into_* it. No Hopi could have accomplished that, much less carve the walls as absolutely, flawlessly straight as they were.

Jonathan found the segment he'd been looking for and took the lantern off of his cast and held it up, illuminating the wall. Six separate drawings adorned the surface, each of two figures close together. The topmost one depicted a young man with long black hair, one arm outstretched and one held close to his side, hands curled in fists. Behind him was a rampant red lion with powerful limbs and sharp teeth and claws and a flaring luxuriant mane. The next one showed a man in the same pose, only with blue hair instead of black accompanied by a large blue eagle.

Jonathan crouched slightly and looked at the next pair, which consisted of first a black-haired man with a round chin alongside a charging ram with great curled horns. The second was that of a man with blond hair and a large green lizard with long, thin arms. The bottom two included a man with short brownish hair and a light-blue shark as his companion, as well as a young female with black hair bound in two ponytails alongside a pink jaguar.

Jonathan bit his lip and backtracked down the hall, scanning the walls for the other drawing he remembered. He stopped when he spotted a drawing of a man wearing maroon armor with six wicked sharp blades mounted on thin rods radiating from his back. The others were of men wearing brown and gray armor and dark green and red armor, but the fourth drew his attention most; that of a man wearing black armor and a flaring brown surcoat trimmed in gold. His eyes were the same triangular shape as every other image in the hallway, but they seemed to hold that same sinister look he'd seen from Koma.

"How could it be…how is it even *_possible_*?" Jonathan whispered as the light of his lantern came to stop at a large drawing of a single figure in pristine white armor. Ten gold blades spread from his back like the spokes of a wheel, and in each hand he held a long sword.


	7. Physical Limits

Physical Limits

By Mardrena

"I can't believe it! After all this time, you've kept them!" an overjoyed Anubis exclaimed as he examined the stacks of books of varying thicknesses lying atop the table.

"Yeah, well we figured they could do more good than just moldering in the Nether Realm, and now that you have your own place, they can do even greater good with you," Cale shrugged.

"Thank you!!" Anubis unexpectedly threw his arms around his fellow former-Warlord's neck.

"Get…off…me…" Cale half-growled, half-croaked.

"I know you like books but I never imagined you'd go gaga over them," Mia remarked as she and Kayura carried in other small boxes.

"Ah, but these aren't just any books," Anubis released Cale and picked up a thin volume. "You'd be lucky to find any other intact copies *_anywhere_* else on the planet. You wouldn't find this sort of information at your local library, that's for sure."

"Yup, before you knew him as a diabolical harbinger of terror and destruction, our guy here was quite the bookworm," Cale tousled Anubis' hair playfully.

"Well, you know the old adage 'knowledge is power'? Back then I wanted all the power I could get my hands on, and what better way than amassing the largest personal library on arcane and occult knowledge in the entire Nether Realm?"

"…This is a nice place…" Dais commented idly to himself as he surveyed the interior of the apartment Mia had found for Anubis. "Clean, spacious…separate bedrooms and bathrooms…so you two can sleep in your own beds…and not in the same room with a snorer…"

"Hey! I don't snore!" Cale exclaimed suddenly.

"The Nether Realm can hear you at night," Dais said matter-of-factly and looked over his shoulder.

"That's just an exaggeration!"

"No it isn't!" Sehkmet hollered from the adjacent room. Cale huffed to himself.

"How did you manage to get your own room?" Mia asked Kayura.

"Oh, I employed my feminine wit and charm to negotiate favorable terms with the others," Kayura brushed a hand through her hair and shrugged.

"You threatened to hurt them, didn't you?" Mia raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"Now Mia, that would breach my Ancient's Oath of non-violence…" Despite Kayura's calm, sincere tone, Mia couldn't help but burst out laughing, and Kayura joined her right after.

"It's hard to believe they're all from the same group as my father," Michelle chuckled.

"I hope they haven't frightened you any," Mia said.

"Oh not at all! They're all quite friendly. Take Sehkmet, for example. Sure, he might come off as menacing and creepy, but he's actually pretty sweet." Dais and Cale had been listening in on the conversation but their eyes went wide upon hearing that last sentence.

"Creepy but sweet?" Dais and Cale exchanged glances, staring at each other for several seconds before grinning and exiting the room quickly, snickering to themselves.

"Oh dear, they're not gonna let him hear the end of that one…" Mia muttered to herself.

"Huh?" Michelle looked concerned.

"Oh, nothing. So, what do you think of the city, Michelle?"

"Well…it's big and it's small at the same time…" Michelle began and shrugged. "It's big because you can easily get lost in it, but it's small because I'm so used to looking in any direction and seeing the horizon. Here it's mostly blocked by buildings."

"If you ever need a refreshing view of an unbroken sky, I'm sure Rowen can oblige you with a brief flight above the skyline," Kayura smiled. Michelle giggled at the notion.

"Mia, where are the others? I thought they'd be here for the housewarming," Anubis asked, concerned.

"I'm not sure what's keeping them. Ryo said he was on his way but then he sounded like he was being interrupted and hung up. All he said was 'he had a train to catch'."

Kayura wrinkled her nose. "Why on earth would he need a train if they can just port over?"

* * *

"Hey! You wanna know what happens when you cross fire with dry cloth?" Ryo asked of the shambling linen-wrapped horror that stood in the aisle of the train car. The ragged-looking mummy raised shriveled limbs and splayed bony fingers, groaning deeply. "This!" Ryo merely reached out with the tip of one sword and barely graced its shoulder, but sparks flew off onto the dirt-caked linens and the dried husk ignited almost instantly. It howled in protest as Wildfire enveloped it from head to toe. Ryo smirked triumphantly at first but frowned in concern when he noticed civilians-trapped in their seats during the sudden invasion-cringing away from the intense heat.

Suddenly the fire shrank into a thin shell around the undead and actually intensified, reducing the mummy to a pile of ash in seconds before finally extinguishing. The civilians stared at the smoking remains in awe, and seemed mostly unaffected.

"….huh…." Ryo remarked and raised an eyebrow at the effect.

"I hope the others are having an easier job of this in the forward section," Cye commented as he fired high-pressure water blasts. He had to be careful of his aim, though, as his shots could just as easily pierce the flesh of the living.

"I don't think they're after civilians. There's something on this train they're looking for," Ryo shook his head.

Two cars ahead, several uniformed guards fired at approaching undead with their pistols. The bullets merely lodged into bone and dry flesh. One guard staggered back as a mummy reached out for his throat. Then the mummy collapsed, split in two. "You'd be better off helping to secure the rest of the train. Conventional weapons aren't as effective," Sage stated. Suddenly, a mummy leapt at him from behind, but before the Ronin Warrior could react, it collapsed onto the aisle. Sage glanced from the rigid corpse to the guard holding a fire axe. He shuddered as if unable to believe his own heroics. "…But that works too."

"Hey, can I ask you guys something; How come I never hear you trash talk? Or talk in general?" Kento asked of the mummies shuffling towards him. "I mean, you could at least say something along the lines of 'Your resistance is futile!' or 'I will dine on your juicy flesh!'. I mean even a little 'Braaaaaiiiins!' would be nice, but all I ever hear you say is, like, 'Muuuuurrrr' and 'Gwaaarrrghhh' and "Bleeaahhhh'." The undead horde came to a standstill as Kento raised his arms and started making grotesque faces. Their empty sockets and half-toothless mouths actually seemed to register surprise and confusion. "…you have no idea what I'm saying, do you?" The lead mummy slowly turned its head from side to side. "Oh, okay…just checkin'…HEEYYAAH!!" Kento swiftly crushed the lead mummy with a single blow.

"Can anyone hear me? We've got a-I'm not even sure there's a code to *_describe_* this kind of an emergency!" the frantic conductor spoke into a crackling radio.

"Hey! Stop the train!" The conductor looked up and his eyes widened upon seeing an armored figure hovering infront of the lead car window, maintaining the exact same speed as the train itself. "You need to let these civilians off before you have any casualties!" The conductor merely gawked at him. "Don't look at *_me_*! Look at your damn console! Hit the emergency brakes!!" Rowen shouted. The conductor reached for a lever and grasped it. He pulled down, but the train's speed remained unchanged. He pushed it up then pulled it down again. Still no result.

"It's not working…The controls aren't responding!"

"Great…" Rowen growled and took off towards the rear of the train.

"What's in that other car?" Sage asked of the guards.

"Just a shipment of artifacts being donated from a private collection to the new Koji building of the university. They wanted them transported by train to avoid the possibility of art thieves…but we never imagined anything like this!" a guard replied.

"The Koji building…hrm…" Sage looked down the aisle at the door separating cars. He spotted a towering, bulky figure in the next car.

"You might as well give up, Ronin Warrior. I can conjure new minions indefinitely." Pharaohn grinned and folded his thick arms over his chest. "I will have what I want."

Sage glanced from the horrified civilians to the smug Dynasty sorceror. The guards stood with him, ready to meet the oncoming undead. Sage narrowed his eyes and stepped forward until he stood between rows of unoccupied seats. Then he smirked and raised his sword, employing a Rait'chian tactic and twirling the blade, slicing through the walls, roof, and floor of the entire car. Passengers held onto their seats as the car shuddered, splitting in half.

"NOO!!!!" Pharaohn bellowed as the train split in half, the forward half zooming on ahead, while the severed cars began to lose speed. Sage waved a polite farewell. "Rrrrgh!!" Pharaohn snarled then made a dismissing gesture with one hand. The mummified minions on both halves of the train vanished abruptly. He turned around and began walking towards the rear car.

"Wow…I've heard about cutting your losses but that's new…" Kento remarked upon seeing the gaping hole.

"How's the forward cars?"

"Okay, I guess. People are kinda shaken but they'll be allright." The guards listened to the exchange between the two armored warriors then blinked upon seeing a third appear by the hole.

"Hey, Pharaohn messed up the power. This train's gonna go off the rails if we don't do something fast," Rowen informed.

"What about the emergency brakes?" a guard asked.

"They failed. I need you two up front we're gonna have to stop this the ol'fashioned way," Rowen said to Sage and Kento and flew back up again.

"I'm not going to like the ol'fashioned way, am I?" Sage frowned.

"C'mon, follow me. Heep!" Kento grabbed the edge of the opening and hauled himself up onto the roof. Sage walked over then looked over his shoulder at the guards.

"You should do what you can to secure the civilians. I have a feeling this is gonna get rough," he said to them before reluctantly following Kento.

Civilians in the disconnected rear half of the train all but flattened themselves against their seats as the blue-skinned behemoth stalked past, grumbling to himself angrily.

"Not so fast royal dead-guy! You're not getting off that easy," Ryo and Cye moved to intercept the Dynasty sorcerer. Pharaohn took out a jeweled scepter shaped like a cane.

"I have neither the time nor mood for your melodramatic rantings, Ronin Leader! Here, take a seat!" The two Ronin grunted from the invisible fist that slammed them into unoccupied seats. A woman tried to rouse a dazed Cye while Pharaohn continued toward the empty rear car.

"You forget about me, King Sandy-Butt?" Pharaohn snarled upon seeing the Lady Ronin standing in the middle of the aisle. "When I get through with you what's left won't be fit for display in a museum!" Tanya smirked and brandished her swords. Pharaohn narrowed his eyes, but instead of raising his cane, he took out a similarly-decorated rod with smaller jeweled links dangling from the tip and pointed it at Tanya. She didn't have time to react as a burst of light momentarily blinded her. When she regained vision, she noticed her arms felt lighter, and much to her horror, she saw she wore sub-armor instead of battle gear. Pharaohn smirked cruelly.

He drew out his sword, and in a warped mimicry of Sage's earlier tactic, swung up with the blade and sliced through the sides and roof. "I believe this is your stop," Pharaohn grinned and raised one leg, lashing out and striking Tanya in the stomach with his sandaled foot. She collided with the rear wall, and the split section started to peel back. Pharaohn flickered out of view, leaving Tanya frantically trying to jump forward. She managed to grab the floor just as the rear wall peeled back. Sparks flew off the rails as metal bounced and slid along the rails, with Tanya dangling precariously over the thin sheet. She tightened her grip on the floor and tried to pull herself up, glancing over her shoulder at the rails sweeping past.

The fragile strips of metal holding the rear wall to the floor snapped, and the entire section slid and bounced away along the track. The shrieking of metal against metal drowned out any other cry.

"Okay, when I give the signal, you two will have to give it everything you got." Rowen instructed as he hovered infront of the train. Sage and Kento hung from the top edge of the roof. Inside the car, the curious conductor pressed his face against the window and looked at them.

"You might wanna take cover, dude. This could potentially get messy," Kento warned. The conductor gulped and ducked down further back in the car.

"Lemme get some distance between us. Here goes!" Rowen shouted and shot off ahead, creating a slight sound boom.

"…Huh…I didn't know he could fly *_that_* fast…" Sage commented and tensed. Suddenly a single golden arrow struck the front of the train. "That's the signal! Go!" he and Kento slid down and braced the soles of their boots against the rails. Far ahead of the train, Rowen held his palms forward and the air rippled and hummed deeply. As the train hit the field, windows shattered and the walls started to collapse slightly. Inside, civilians and guards covered their heads with their arms and knelt on the floor. Sparks flew off the rails as Kento and Sage attempted to slow the train. Kento grit his teeth and Sage cried out from the effort.

Rowen could feel sweat sliding down his face as he maintained focus, but the train eventually creaked to a stop altogether. The cars wobbled on the rails slightly, but otherwise remained on the tracks. Rowen collapsed onto the rails, completely spent. "Oh man…I don't think I was meant to use my armor like that…" he wheezed as the forward section creaked and groaned in some places. Kento and Sage likewise collapsed, and Sage yelped and began stamping his feet on the ground attempting to cool the heated metal, while Kento grabbed his ankle and pulled his leg up, actually blowing on his soles rapidly.

Ryo finally came to and stood up shakily. "The car…it's not slowing down fast enough. Is there an emergency manual brake anywhere?" he asked a civilian. A man pointed at a painted panel underneath another man's briefcase. Cye moved forward and kicked the briefcase to the side then jammed his trident into the panel then wrenched it off, exposing the brake lever. He knelt down and held his hand over it.

"Brace yourselves!!" he cried out in warning before pulling up the lever. The wheels stopped suddenly and sparks flew off the rails as the rear cars began to slow down. An elderly woman fell out of her seat and landed on the floor painfully. Ryo scooted forward and helped her to her knees, sheltering her as the cars wobbled from side to side. The cars stopped moving entirely.

"Everyone allright?" Ryo asked and looked up.

"Depends on your definition of 'allright'," a man grumbled.

Ryo and Cye stood up and looked around. "Looks like Pharaohn made a clean getaway…hey, where's Tanya?"

"Did she head to the forward section along with the others?"

"Not that I saw…" Ryo looked down the aisle and saw the open door to the rear-most car. He frowned and walked towards the doorway. "Tanya? Tanya, you there?" The two Ronin entered the car and saw the gaping hole in the rear. "Tanya! Where are you?" Ryo looked looked down and saw white-armored fingers practically buried into the floor panels. The two of them hopped out of the train onto the rails. "Sis, what'cha doing back here?" Tanya hung down from the edge of the floor with her stomach and legs lying against the track. She didn't respond. Cye frowned in confusion, but his eyes widened when he saw something.

"Ryo! Look!" he croaked. Ryo looked down at the ground and saw a steadily growing pool of red in the gravel beneath Tanya's legs. "Don't move her!" Cye warned, but Ryo in his haste ignored the warning and knelt down and rolled Tanya onto her back.

"Oh God!! Tanya! Sage! We need to get her to Sage!"

"Ryo, she *_needs_* a hospital! Even Sage can't handle an injury like that!"

"Okay…we can port her over to Shinasha and have the Doc look at her…Tanya, hang on! You'll be allright! You're going to be allright!" The Lady Ronin's eyes remained closed, as the pain had long since driven her from the realm of consciousness.

* * *

When Tanya's eyes finally opened, she only saw blurry lights. Successive blinks helped her regain focus, and she found herself looking up at a clean white ceiling. Her entire body felt stiff and heavy, and even glancing about the room seemed to take monumental effort. She saw curtains on one side and the other a bulky gray machine with blinking LED lights and lines moving in a rapid zigzag. Sheets were tucked in tightly about her.

"Here, I'm not sure if you'd need this for anything. We removed all the shrapnel we could find and X-rays didn't find anything else." She heard voices and lifted her head up slightly.

"Thanks…" she heard Ryo mumble and saw him standing with Dr. O'Connor by a doorway.

"She suffered extensive tissue and nerve damage, but it looks like her armor took the worst of it. Any deeper and she might've lost *_both_* legs..."

"Ryo…what's going on?" Tanya croaked, not believing how weak her voice sounded. Ryo still seemed to hear her and looked her way.

"Hey sis! Don't worry, you're safe now. Doc says you'll be allright after some rest."

"Doc?...where…where am I?" she frowned and tried to sit up. She couldn't feel her legs, but the lumps under the sheets told her they were still there.

"Stay on your back. You shouldn't be moving after what you went through. You're fine, you're in Shinasha Memorial," Charles assured. Tanya's eyes widened in horror.

"The hospital? No…no! Ryo, get me out of here. I can't be here!" Tanya tried to scoot off the bed. A nurse who was checking the instruments monitoring Tanya's condition walked over to the bed and tried to nudge her back down. "I don't want to be here! Get me out of here! Get *_away_* from me!" Tanya screamed suddenly and shoved the nurse away violently. Another nurse heard the outburst and ran in and grabbed Tanya's arm, but Tanya yanked her to the side, sending her colliding with the other nurse.

"Tanya! Calm down! It's just the hospital, there's nothing to worry about!" Ryo pleaded.

"I need an orderly in here!" Charles leaned out into the hall then looked back into the room. "Actually make that three!" he hollered. Three blue-uniformed men rushed over to the hysterical Lady Ronin's bedside and grabbed her arms, trying to pin her down, and still having trouble trying to restrain her. Tanya shrieked at the top of her lungs and squirmed about in bed as she tried to escape. All Ryo could do was stand by the doorway and wish dearly he could turn himself invisible. He glanced over his shoulder and saw staff members and passerby's pause to watch the scene. Charles fetched a syringe and medicine bottle from a cabinet and measured out a dose of some drug. Tanya saw him and desperately tried to wriggle free of the orderlies' grip.

"NO!! GET AWAY FROM ME! GET THAT AWAY! NO!! NO!!!" she screamed to no avail as the Doc skillfully administered the sedative despite her thrashing. The orderlies kept her pinned down as they waited for the sedative to take effect. Tanya tried to fight the grip of the drugs flowing through her system, and whimpered softly as the strength of desperation left her. The orderlies released her as she relaxed entirely, and her eyes closed. Charles walked over to the two nurses and talked to them gently and helped the injured one stand up. The orderlies left the room, followed by the nurses, all of them commenting about the crazy girl. Ryo remained by the doorway and had his arms folded over his chest and rubbed the knuckles of his left hand against his chin. Charles walked over, looking calm until he stopped beside him.

"You mind telling me what the *_Hell_* that was about?!" he hissed, understandably angry.

"She…she has a fear of being in hospital beds…when she was a kid she thought it meant you were going to die…I didn't think she'd still be afraid after all this time…" Ryo replied feebly.

"I can understand if she has a repressed memory, but that still doesn't excuse this!"

"She hates being laid up like this. She's so used to being self-sufficient."

"True…I'll keep her overnight for observation then I'll release her to your care. At least you all can do in days what would take weeks, even months of recovery, not to mention rehab."

"It's not like we can wave a magic wand. Even Sage and Shannon would need a lot of time."

"Still, she'll likely feel more comfortable being treated by them than staying here, that's for sure…" Doc said and went out into the hall to attend to other matters. Ryo watched Tanya, her face still frozen in a desperate grimace from her struggle.

"…I know exactly how you feel, Sis. You might disagree, but I know *_exactly_* how you feel…" Ryo muttered sadly while the Lady Ronin slept.

* * *

"It's called the 'Needle of the Heavens'. Ancient legends claim it was used by the Gods to stitch the sky to the earth, and that it can open the way between worlds," Anubis explained and set one of his books on the dining room table next to an inventory list Mia had brought from the university. The aged ink drawing looked virtually identical to a photograph of the artifact.

"So what does some obscure myth have to do with yesterday's attack?" Kento shrugged.

"Ah, but you see, every-" Anubis began and smiled.

"Myth has a grain of truth…" "Yeah, yeah we know!" "Oh *_GOD_* do we know!" some of the others grumbled. Anubis scowled, slightly offended and at the same time stunned.

"This could be used to bypass the barrier between the Mortal Realm and the Nether. Pharaohn no doubt seeks to gain control of the Nether Realm's strategic location and resources."

"We can't let that happen, but Lord Mabu should be notified of the possibility of an invasion." Kayura set a shallow bowl on the table and poured water into it as if for scrying.

"I thought all contact with the Nether Realm was cut off," Rowen commented.

"It is, but it is still possible for those of Kayura's skill to commune with the residents," Cale replied and watched as Kayura raised the Staff and gently dipped the ornamented top into the bowl. She began stirring slowly, chanting under her breath all the while, and with each pass smoke drifted up from the rim of the bowl. The others watched, amazed as the ring of smoke rose into the air then tilted forward. Kayura stepped back and waited for the portal to stabilize.

A clear image of a round metallic face mostly concealed by an ornamental mask formed in the portal. Glowing green eyes blinked in confusion at first. "Ahh! Lady Kayura! It is *_good_* to see you once again!" the being assumed to be the Nether Realm's current regent greeted cheerfully.

"Glory and long life to you, Lord Mabu," Kayura curtsied briefly. "How fares the Nether?"

"Good, very good! We've prospered greatly since the passing of our un-lamented Emperor. Just recently we completed our first harvest, and what a bounty! Shame you no longer reside here to enjoy it with us!" the portly noble replied.

"If they're just a bunch of spirits in armor, why do they have to eat?" Ryo shielded his mouth with a hand and whispered to Dais.

"Contrary to what you may believe, young Ronin Leader, we of the Nether do share an appreciation for the finer things in life," Lord Mabu chided. Ryo blinked, startled that he heard him from that distance. "Old conflicts aside, we are not entirely unlike yourselves."

"I am glad to hear things are going so well Lord Mabu, but I would not have expended such effort for merely pleasantries. I have grim news to relay: We've confirmed that Pharaohn, formerly of Dygra's command, survived our last great battle, and has made efforts to procure the Needle of the Heavens." Upon hearing that, Lord Mabu's eyes widened then narrowed.

"So…Pharaohn thinks he can use the Needle to barge in here, and take the realm as his own? Hah! He is sorely mistaken in that regard! He and any others who attempt to usurp our new order will find no sympathizers here! Granted, there have been a few isolated uprisings by loyalists of the old regime, but nothing that cannot be put down in a swift and brutal manner as is befitting of them. You have my oath, Lady Kayura, should the worst come to pass, we *_will_* fight any attempts at subjugation! We bow to *_no_* Emperor anymore, least of all a fallen sorcerer king!"

"You honor us with your dedication and valor. You have my oath that myself and the Ronin Warriors will do all that we can to make sure Pharaohn does not obtain the Needle. May you reign for many ages to come, justly and fairly," Kayura bowed again.

"Or else we'll kick your ass!" Cale shouted and leaned infront of the portal.

"Cale shut up!!" Kayura whacked him to the side with the Staff. "Don't listen to him!" she waved hurriedly at the portal at a confused Lord Mabu before the portal dematerialized.

Cye had observed the conversation quietly, but looked troubled. "I know what you're thinking, Cye," Anubis spoke up suddenly. Cye looked startled but didn't say anything. "Lord Mabu is of Sabrestryke's crowd. He would not betray the covenant between our worlds."

"As long as we're alive, you mean…" Cye muttered under his breath. He couldn't help but recall one of the various warnings he'd received in his vision weeks ago.

"The Needle is part of a collection set to go on display at a benefit dinner later in the week. Until then they'll be stored in a secure vault, though after what happened on the train, I doubt that'll stop Pharaohn," Mia stated.

"We'll set up a rotating watch on the university grounds, then. If Pharaohn hasn't made his move yet, we'll all go on stakeout the night before the event. We'll be short Tanya, but if we use the Incarnations, we can make up for her loss," Ryo said.

"Assuming she stays in bed. Sanadas seem to have an aversion to recuperating." Rowen obviously meant that in a light-hearted manner, but Ryo wasn't amused, and everyone could see that. No one said anything for several seconds.

"How is she?" Kento asked softly. Ryo didn't reply immediately.

"Her legs are pretty torn up. Sage and Shannon are doing what they can by alternating treatments, but it'll still take time before her legs heal, and even longer for her pride. "

"If she wore her Battle Armor, she wouldn't have suffered so badly," Sehkmet commented.

"That's the thing! She did! Pharaohn used something to force her to power down. The Doc says if it weren't for her sub-armor, she would've lost both kneecaps. She's lucky she'll still be able to walk." The others grimaced at the thought.

"Could Pharaohn use this magic against us?" Cye asked.

"I doubt it; otherwise he would have weakened you in a similar fashion. I suspect the…*_unique_* nature of Tanya's armor made her more susceptible," Anubis explained.

"We can't do anything to change what happened, but what we can do is make sure that Pharaohn doesn't get what he wants, and not only that. If we get the chance-and believe me, we will-we're going to take him out: permanently," Ryo stated firmly with vengeance in his eyes.

* * *

"I've left notes and records of my life's work and research, so I'm confident that anyone with the initiative to act as my successor will have no trouble filling the role," Pharaohn said while he sorted stacks of parchments on his work table in a candle-lit room. Various vials, jars, and clayware pots littered the corners and edges of the surface. Pharaohn turned around and his face took on an uncharacteristically warm look. "I can afford to fail in my mission. *_You_* however, cannot. Everything we have worked for thus far hinges on your success. Bluntly put; I'm nothing more than the diversion. I am not expected to survive…and because of that, I will wish you good luck…" he said with a half-smile to the shadowed figure standing in the doorway.

"Why, thank you Pharaohn. That's very sweet of you…you know, you remind me a lot of a teacher I remember from school…"

"And you like the child that never survived long enough for me to care for. I trust you are liking your new…*_enhancements_*?"

"Very much so. They've made my past missions so much easier…and I'm sure I can put them to creative use for later tasks."

"Excellent. Now, let us be on our separate ways. No doubt the Ronin will be expecting me to attempt to seize the Needle once more. I'm *_counting_* on it, but with the meddling Lady Ronin, as you would say, 'down for the count', maybe, just maybe, I'll survive after all."

* * *

Mia hummed to herself as she carried a breakfast tray upstairs to the guest room where Tanya would be spending the next few weeks convalescing. She balanced the tray on one hand and turned the doorknob with the other and shouldered the door open. "Okay, I brought you some-" Any cheerful greeting Mia had rehearsed bled out of her when she saw the bed empty with the comforter and sheets peeled to one side and white nightgown and slippers strewn over the bedpost. She looked to the side and saw the open window and walked over, setting the tray on the bed as she passed by. She pushed the curtains aside and peered out. "Oh no…"

Tanya had never attended school long enough to participate in organized gymnastics programs, but she moved with an unparalleled athletic grace as she went through one routine after another. Her palms rasped over the smooth bark of a sturdy low-hanging tree branch, and she continued swinging up and around with her eyes closed, completely oblivious to a very irritated Mia as she stalked out of the front door and towards the tree.

"You know, for some reason, I'd think that by now-after *_all_* that you've been through- you'd have more sense than this!" Mia shouted. Tanya hooked her legs over the branch then hung upside down and curled up again until her shoulders almost touched her toes. Then she reached up with her hands and grasped the branch before letting herself down onto the ground smoothly.

"It's just a little workout. Exercising keeps me from getting soft and weak," Tanya shrugged.

"Tanya; you're not supposed to *_be_* exercising! You're supposed to be *_in bed_*, *_inside_*, recovering! *_NOT_* straining your legs and undoing all the hard work Sage and Shannon put into fixing you up!" Tanya snorted and folded her arms over her chest, closing her eyes. "Okay…" Mia held up one finger and dug into her pocket with her free hand. "Ryo told me to show this to you if you did something like this…You see this?" Mia held up a tiny glass jar. Tanya glanced at it just long enough to identify the tiny white shards inside. She stared at them for several seconds coldly before averting her gaze. Mia rattled it several times, the shards bouncing about.

"This is what they took out of you when you were in surgery! These are pieces of your own armor they had to pull out of your skin after you almost got your legs ripped off on the train tracks! Most people wouldn't have *_survived_* such an injury, much less kept both legs! You can sigh and roll your eyes all you want, but you can't deny that you took a bad hit out there, and you *_need_* to take it easy and recover *_properly_*!"

"**I KNOW MY LIMITS**!!" Tanya snapped and glared at Mia angrily. Mia stopped talking and remained quiet. Much like a raging storm, the only escape from one of Tanya's rises was to wait it out. "I know how much punishment I can and cannot take! You-Just-I could *_burn_* your *_ears_* with stories about close I've come to buying the farm and still came out on top." Mia bit her lip and listened patiently as Tanya recounted a well-known story about how the Lady Ronin of old, Mardrena, had once fought all four Dark Warlords in succession, and each time, at the brink of collapsing, managed to come out on top. While Tanya continued ranting angrily, Mia's gaze roved about, first to the grass, then the tree, then Tanya's legs. Her eyes widened.

"Oh God! Tanya! Your legs!" Mia exclaimed suddenly. Tanya frowned and looked down, horrified to see the fabric of her jeans above her thighs stained dark red. Seemingly at the sight of such bleeding, whatever strength the Lady Ronin had summoned to venture outside abandoned her as her legs buckled and she nearly collapsed. Mia caught her by the shoulder and helped support her. "Tanya, I understand how you feel, and you can say that I don't, but I do. A couple years ago, when lesser Dynasty lords were trying to capture Inferno, Ryo put his own health at risk to fight, but he suffered a great deal because of it. The whole point of there being all Ten of you is so that there are others who can share the burden in an event such as this.

"I have a great deal of respect for you and the others, but beneath all that armor and magic, you're still human. You're not supposed to be worrying about fighting, you *_need_* to heal. Let the others do the fighting for you. The world won't suffer because you take time to recover. Tanya, do you understand now?" The Lady Ronin didn't say anything and kept staring at the ground, trying to avoid Mia's gaze as well as the sight of her own bleeding legs. "Tanya?"

"If I promise to go back to bed, will you *_please_* stop talking?" Tanya moaned. Mia chuckled briefly and nodded.

"Here, you shouldn't even be on your feet…Whiteblaze! Whiteblaze! Can you come out here and give us a hand…or paw, rather?" Mia called towards the door. It only took seconds for the white tiger to sprint outside and he offered his broad back to the Lady Ronin.

* * *

Tanya had resigned herself to her fate and sat in bed with the sheets pulled over her freshly re-bandaged legs. Mia had left a breakfast tray as well as a newspaper and the mini TV. Tanya had just finished eating and set the emptied tray to the side. She looked up when she saw the door swing open and saw a black and white striped form approach the bed. Whiteblaze clambered up and lay down next to her. "Hey there, come to keep me company?" Tanya smiled and reached out to rub Whiteblaze's ears. She glanced to the side when she saw shining metal plates moving past the edge of the bed. Much to her surprise, Blackblaze leapt up neatly and stretched along the opposite side of the bed. "Blackblaze…This is a pleasant surprise…"

The armored tiger set his chin over his paws and his spirit-brother likewise settled in for a nap. Then Tanya realized that the weight of both tigers on the bed kept the sheets tightly stretched over her legs, effectively keeping her pinned. "…lemme guess: you two are here to make sure I don't run off again?" Whiteblaze merely yawned and Blackblaze twitched his tail. Tanya sighed and picked up the newspaper and a nearby pen. She searched for a crossword puzzle in an effort to keep her mind occupied, but something caught her eye and she flipped back a few pages.

"…'Police are still baffled by the nature of the brazen robbery of a district evidence locker which occurred during last month's inexplicable disturbance. So far no suspects have been identified, and the department declined to disclose what exactly was taken, only that the items in question were not related to any current relevant cases'…" Tanya narrowed her eyes. "…why do I feel like that should ring a bell?" she muttered. A series of loud thumps from the hall drew her attention and she sat up straight. "Hey! What's going on out there?"

Rowen paused by the door and peeked in. "Tonight's the night before that benefit display. Ryo wants all of us on stakeout to see if Pharaohn shows his ugly mug," he explained.

"Don't worry about a thing, Tanya. You stay put and take it easy. We'll handle the rest," Cye added and the two rushed off to join the others. Tanya wanted badly to join them, but until her legs were pronounced fully healed, she'd be sitting in bed for a good while longer.

* * *

The Ronin had taken up positions in various locations. Ryo, Sehkmet, and Cale kept watch over the front gate, while Dais hid himself close to the room with the actual vault. Rowen performed sweeps of all checkpoints and Anubis and Sage patrolled the grounds outside. Cye sat on the edge of the roof overlooking the building. He scanned the sidewalks winding through the grounds and tapped his fingers on the shaft of his trident. Then he looked up when he noticed his partner returning. "Oh for gosh sakes, Kento! I know you didn't!" Cye moaned upon seeing his friend carrying a plastic bag and a cardboard cup holder.

"What? We could potentially be at this for hours. It's important we maintain proper energy levels to stay alert," Kento replied calmly and took a seat next to Cye.

"The fate of the world hinges on the protection of a crucial artifact, and all you can think about is stuffing your face?" Cye accused while Kento proceeded to remove items from the bag, setting some aside in a small pile. "We could be in the heat of battle and you'd insist on taking a snack break. I can't believe you sometimes-" Kento held up a cup and a glistening napkin-wrapped pastry. "Ooh! Thanks!" Cye's mood immediately lightened and he accepted the snacks.

Lyor growled steadily as he prowled along the brick wall towards the south of the grounds. Razor Wing circled above while Foam Reaver wove underground. Boulderdash managed to conceal his bulk amid some carefully trimmed bushes and Iguadalupen lounged along a high tree branch. Students and professors had gone home an hour earlier, leaving the complex mostly empty save for a few night owls completely oblivious to the "extra security".

"Ryo!!" Ryo looked up when he heard Rowen shout. "Ryo, I just got word there's a large force of Gargoyle Soldiers attacking apartments on the west side!"

"Anyone been hurt yet?"

"No, they're just ripping up the place, but its causing a huge panic."

"They're trying to draw us away. We have to respond, but at the same time we cannot abandon our posts here," Sehkmet muttered and watched Ryo, waiting for any order. Ryo bit his lip and rapped his fingers against the hilt of his swords. Then he took a deep breath.

"Lyor! Take the other Incarnations to the west side and get the situation under control." Lyor growled in acknowledgement and roared a command to Razor Wing, who in turn screeched to the rest. Foam Reaver, Iguadalupen, and Boulderdash abandoned their cozy spots and followed.

"That's a third of our forces right there…" Sehkmet muttered.

"We'll just have to work around the loss. Cale, go inside and backup Dais. If he gripes about it threaten him with your singing," Ryo ordered. Cale grinned wickedly and wrapped himself in shadow before leaving. Rowen went back to his patrol and Ryo and Sehkmet adjusted their positions to cover for the absence of the Incarnations.

Meanwhile, on their perch on the roof, Kento and Cye continued snacking pleasantly. "Hey Cye," Kento mumbled through a full mouth then swallowed solidly. "Didn't Mia say the security staff gets off at 9 then the automated systems take over?"

"Yeah…why you ask?" Cye thumbed white icing off the corner of his lip then licked the sugary residue off his armored thumb.

"Well, what are those guys doing then?" Kento gestured to a group of half a dozen uniformed figures walking towards the building entrance with his cup.

"Hrm…I dunno…we should find out." Cye gulped down the last of his drink and Kento stuffed the last pastry into his mouth and the pair leapt down to intercept the newcomers. "Sorry, mates, but I'm going to have to ask what you're doing here this late." The fact that they didn't react with shock upon seeing two armored men should've been the first hint, but the empty black eyes and slack jaws confirmed their suspicion. "…Lovely," Cye muttered and he and Kento readied their weapons as the shambling undead shed their disguises and attacked.

"Cye and Kento are under attack from the south wall!" Rowen reported as he flew overhead.

"We should assist, then!" Sehkmet drew his swords.

"No. For all we know it could be another ploy to draw us off. Until Pharaohn himself attacks, we can't afford to abandon our posts. Kento and Cye can hold their own for now." Ryo stated. Sehkmet and Rowen reluctantly obeyed. *_Pharaohn'll have to make his move sooner or later…he'll need more than a few lemmings in linen to get past us.*_

* * *

Tanya sat in bed with the TV on in her lap. Blackblaze didn't seem at all interested, but Tanya tilted the screen towards Whiteblaze's side so he could watch too. Suddenly the program they were watching changed to an emergency news bulletin. _*"We're bringing you this shocking coverage live from midtown. It looks like a scene out of a horror franchise! There appears to be a spectacular fight going on between winged metal monstrosities and spectral animals of some kind. About half an hour ago dozens of these constructs appeared and began attacking random areas, causing massive property damage. A few minutes later, these animals arrived and in a clear response to the attack, just began _*shredding* _these constructs! So far there have been no civilian casualties, but I imagine the insurance costs for damaged property will be through the *_roof_*!"*_

"The Incarnations were supposed to take my place at the stakeout…if they're not there…" Tanya drew in her breath and frowned in dismay. Then she looked at Whiteblaze. "Blaze, you know what this means, right? The guys need me. I know I promised Mia I'd stay in bed, but if I do, that creep Pharaohn will get what he wants. Will you help me?" Whiteblaze stared at her with a stern look in his brown eyes. "Please…?" The tiger stretched his neck up until his nose almost touched Tanya's. Then his lips seemed to spread in a smile and he ran his rough pink tongue over Tanya's chin. "Who needs a dog when I got you? Hehe, let's go!" Tanya squirmed out from under the covers and staggered to her feet cautiously.

"I should save my strength for any fighting, so I'll need you to carry me into town. Blackblaze, you coming?" The Nether tiger hadn't budged at all and seemed quite content to keep napping. "C'mon! I heard you had it in for Pharaohn. I thought you of all cats would pounce at the chance to get revenge." Blackblaze twitched his whiskers. "Fine, be that way." Tanya raised her hand, displaying the gold and onyx Jaguar ring. "JAGUAR!!"

Jaguaradina, who of course hadn't participated in the stakeout, appeared briefly before turning into armor that covered Tanya's body. "Typhoon hasn't repaired itself yet, so this'll have to do for now. C'mon, let's get out of here before Mia notices," Tanya pushed the window open.

At the same time, Mia walked upstairs to check on Tanya. She opened the door just in time to see the AnimArmored Lady Ronin and Whiteblaze creeping out the window. "Oooh no…No!" Mia turned around and ran downstairs with surprising speed. She made it outside just as Whiteblaze landed in the lawn with Tanya on his back. "NO! No no no! I'm not going to let you do this!!" Mia dashed infront of Whiteblaze as he prepared to run and grabbed his ears.

"Mia, get out of my way. I have to help them," Tanya said and narrowed her eyes.

"The only thing you have to do is get back into bed! You're in no shape to fight!"

"Whiteblaze, just go…" Tanya muttered. Whiteblaze tried to move sideways.

"No you don't!" Mia tightened her grip and pulled to the side. Whiteblaze let out a half-growl, half-gurgle and actually looked embarrassed. "You can't do this, not in your condition! You might be doing it for the right reasons, like Ryo would, but this is the wrong time!"

"Did Ryo stay in bed?" Tanya asked calmly. Mia frowned and narrowed her eyes. "No, he didn't. And you know why? Because he *_couldn't_*. Too much and too many people depended on him being able to fight. It didn't matter if he was injured or weak; he had to do it because there was no other option. We don't have the luxuries of picking and choosing our fights. We don't have a day planner that lets us say 'we're going to fight on this day and at this time'. We take these things as they come, because we're *_supposed_* to.

"It's a lot like what the Thangiens say; 'We take these things upon ourselves, so that no one else need suffer'. Right now, Ryo and the others are shorthanded at the university, and they NEED help. So please, Mia: let go of the tiger," Tanya stated firmly. Mia stared at her a few moments longer then released her grip on Whiteblaze's tender ears and stepped back, holding her hands up in defeat. "Thank you. Tell Shannon I'll be back in one piece." Whiteblaze took off in a sprint towards the highway, and Mia watched them leave both worried and irritated.

"Hey Whiteblaze, how fast can you run? No, I don't suppose you'd have a speedometer back here, would you?" Tanya leaned from side to side and examined Whiteblaze's shoulders. The tiger twitched his ears and glanced up briefly before focusing on traffic going into and out of the city. "We need to get to the university as quickly as possible…Whiteblaze, ride the traffic!" Tanya shouted. The tiger roared and leapt high into the air, landing on the roof of a car as it sped down the highway. The driver jumped upon hearing a loud metallic thump, and the driver of a car in the next lane over nearly lost control and crashed upon seeing the two figures.

"Saves on gas, that's for sure…I can only hope I'm not too late."

* * *

"You know, I read once that it takes six months to make a mummy, so how the heck does Pharaohn get so many? I mean, first they gotta dry it, then they pull the brains out the nose, then they put the organs in jars, then they wrap it, then they put it in like three coffins… Does he have a mummy factory somewhere or does he get his goons from the same shop as Talpa?" Kento mused idly and sent dried flesh and bone spraying to the side.

"Kento! Seriously, knock it off!" Cye squawked and dismembered mummies. On the opposite side of the grounds, Anubis and Sage found themselves under attack as well as Ryo and Sehkmet. Rowen did what he could to assist all three points from the sky. Inside, Cale crept towards the vault, blending in with the shadows and bypassing the barely visible laser alarms.

"Who goes there?" a voice rasped.

"It's me, idiot. Ryo sent me to reinforce the vault defense. I think they're under attack outside, so it makes sense that Pharaohn himself will attack soon." Cale shed his concealing shadows and drew his sword. Dais swung himself down from where he'd hung from the ceiling and landed next to him. "I never met Pharaohn myself. What sort of powers *_does_* he have?"

"Alchemy…conjuration…sorcery among other things… He's a more powerful spell caster than a fighter. Surely he'd be no match for the two of us."

"Ryo made a good choice setting the strongest Ronin to defend the artifact," Cale smirked.

"My repertoire also happens to include illusion. Much more convincing and concealing than any of *_your_* parlor tricks," a deep voice rumbled from behind. Cale and Dais didn't have time to react as two large blue palms grasped the sides of their helms and bashed them together, knocking them unconscious. "'Strongest Ronin'…Indeed!" Pharaohn snorted and stepped past them towards the vault. Behind him, the armors of the incapacitated Ronin began glowing.

Back outside, Ryo and Sehkmet had to fall back to the metal and glass doors to the main building. More mummies than ever existed in actual Egypt swarmed all around them. One snuck up behind Ryo and prepared to bite his neck with yellowed teeth. Suddenly a white form pounced from above and crushed the mummy then whirled around and tackled another, tearing it apart with sharp teeth and claws. "Whiteblaze?? Wait…if you're here…that means…Oh no!"

Sehkmet was far too busy decimating the undead to notice his armor start glowing, and Rowen focused more on raining arrows upon the mummified hordes than his own pulsing armor. Ryo pushed open the glass doors and he and Sehkmet ran inside. Sehkmet remained to keep the undead at bay, but Ryo took off running into the building.

"These pathetic mortals and their machines think they can keep *_me_* from my prize?" Pharaohn waved his cane at the electrical locks. The panels sparked then fizzled. Pharaohn chuckled triumphantly and with a wave of his palm, the vault door swung open. He took a single step forward, but paused when a slender pink form leapt infront of him.

"You want your fancy toy you'll have to go through me!" Tanya declared and aimed her clawnchers. Pharaohn scowled and drew out his flail.

"Do you honestly believe that cheap knockoff armor would fare any differently against my magics?" he growled, and the rod glowed. Tanya shielded her eyes from the blinding flash, and much to her dismay found herself in Jaguar sub-armor. She hurriedly tried to re-aim her clawnchers, but Pharaohn grabbed her by her hands and lifted her up. It only took one squeeze from each hand to crush the barrels and blades of the weapons. "Your interference is beginning to irritate me, young Lady Ronin!" Pharaohn leered at her, his blocky face merely an inch away from Tanya's. She tried to kick him between the legs, but he flung her back against the vault.

"You know, I never understood why the master feared you so," Tanya sucked air in through her teeth as Pharaohn placed the tip of his kopesh sword under her chin and tilted it up slightly. "Behind all that coarse bravado lies nothing more than an arrogant, stringy little girl. I never had the pleasure of meeting your predecessor in combat, but surely she would've proved more worthy than you. Do you have anything bold to say before I cleave you in two?" he grinned.

"Bite me!" Tanya snarled and narrowed her eyes.

"Defiant till the bitter end, as befitting of a Lady Ronin. This won't be quick, I can assure you; I want to relish this too much." Pharaohn raised his sword high and grinned maniacally, while Tanya sat on the ground helpless. The thought of putting an end to a persistent thorn in the Dynasty's side made the sorcerer feel quite tingly…and warm…

Tanya first tried to cover her eyes with her hand, but the blinding light seemed to leak past her fingers. She turned her face to the side and brought her arms up to shield her eyes. She could feel intense heat on her skin, but it seemed to subside as quickly as it began. She blinked several times then looked forward and saw a smoking pile of ash on the tiled floor. She looked up and saw a white-armored figure standing before her with one hand clenched.

The armored person opened his hand with a snap and sparks flew off of his fingers. Then he looked down at her with sparkling blue eyes. "Couldn't just stay in bed, could you?"

"I couldn't help myself; I was going stir-crazy," Tanya shrugged and grinned. Ryo smiled behind the Inferno mask.

In the room outside, Cale and Dais were barely coming to as Rowen ran over. "Dais! Cale! You two okay?" Rowen asked and knelt beside Cale and helped him sit.

"What…the hell…are you all doing here?" Dais slurred as he recognized the others.

"All of the attackers just up and vanished. Why were you knocked out?"

"Pharaohn over-powered us…"

"Not so much over-powered as got the jump on us," Cale admitted sheepishly.

"The vault's been compromised! Did Pharaohn-?" Anubis was about to step forward but stopped when he saw Ryo walk through the doors carrying Tanya in his arms.

"We won't have to worry about Pharaohn anymore. He's been cremated," the Ronin Leader said with a smirk. "We have her to thank for that. If it weren't for her, Pharaohn would've gotten away with the Needle." Ryo gently set Tanya down, allowing her to stand on her own.

"I was wondering why Whiteblaze was here. She must've bribed him…" Sehkmet commented with a grin.

"Oh it wasn't hard convincing him to carry me here…Mia, on the other hand…"

"We owe you one, Sis…" Tanya smiled at the gratitude. "But you're off-duty until your legs are fully healed, starting now," Ryo stated firmly and narrowed his eyes.

"What?! 'Off-duty'!? What the hell is this, the police force?! Hey! What do you think you're doing?! Put me down *_RIGHT_* now!" Tanya squawked in protest as Sehkmet, Sage, Cale, and Rowen grabbed Tanya by the arms and legs and carried her off to one side to teleport her back to the estate. "RYO!! I'm going to kick your ass for this!!" she threatened and squirmed violently.

"Well you can do that after you've recovered!" Ryo hollered back.

"oooOOOOOOGHHH!!"

"I almost pity Pharaohn, for all his efforts were for naught," Anubis began as he walked out of the vault carrying the palm-sized stone obelisk. "You see this indention here? That's where the focusing gem for the Needle originally resided. I'm guessing either it was damaged ages ago or stolen by thieves. Without it, the Needle is nothing more than an elaborate paperweight," Anubis chuckled and hefted the Needle in his hand.

"Welp, better safe than sorry," Kento abruptly grabbed it out of Anubis' hand and crushed it between his palms, reducing it to marble-sized chunks of stone.

"….Why did you do that?" Anubis blinked several times in disbelief.

"But, you said-"

"I said the Needle is powerless, I didn't say the university couldn't keep it for their display."

"Oh…hrm…" Kento bit his lip and looked down at the pieces in his palms. Ryo winced and Dais suppressed snickers. "…You think we can superglue it back together and blame it on the Dynasty?" Anubis blinked again and let out a rattling sigh and placed his fingers on his brow.

* * *

Blackblaze hadn't budged at all from his spot on Tanya's bed, making it impossible for Mia to tidy up the sheets. She'd turned the lights off since she assumed he was sleeping, but if she'd bothered to look closely, she might've seen his lips curled in a very, very, very satisfied smile.

* * *

His arms felt cold. His entire body started to feel cold. It was the shock setting in from his injuries as he lay on the floor bleeding from where long black knives stuck into his arms and chest. Every other member of his team was dead, and the attacker now sauntered past their bodies confidently. He focused every remaining shred of strength to moving his arm to his holster and peeling the clasp open. He tried to make as little sound as possible as he pulled his sidearm out and, with his other hand, shakily closed his fingers about the trigger and aimed.

His body convulsed and his arms fell limp onto the floor, the gun clicking against the tiles no more than a second after metal crunched through bone and soft brain matter. Black Hawk sneered down at the fresh corpse of the foolishly defiant guard and ruffled her wings before settling them against her back once more. She hated wasting feather knives.

Her talons clicked against the tiled floor of the formerly-sanitized lab as she headed for a long metal table covered with plastic. She stood beside it for several moments, respectfully silent upon identifying the pieces beneath the clear sheet. She gingerly placed her fingers atop the plastic and pressed down slightly, just enough so that the glaring reflections from the fluorescent lights in the ceiling shifted away. Black Hawk shuddered involuntarily, as even though the blood-red mask had been sliced in half rather violently, it still seemed to stare up at her…and into her.


	8. Goldheart

Goldheart

By Mardrena

Rowen strode up the steps onto the porch and rapped his knuckles against the door before glancing around the outer walls while he waited. He noticed the various claw marks and cracked panes from the attempted assault weeks ago had been repaired, and Roxi's truck looked no worse for wear with the windshield replaced. He knocked again, wondering if he'd caught Roxi just out of bed. Just as he raised his knuckles to knock a third time, he heard footsteps approaching from the other side. "It's me, just in case you're carrying your Sharps," he chuckled.

"I can see you through the windows," Roxi muttered from the other side as she worked to open the half dozen locks and bolts. Rowen smiled and waited for the door to open. "Sorry I didn't answer sooner, I've been on the phone all day and I'm starting to wonder if companies actually have people working for them anymore…" Roxi finally opened the door and leaned against one side of the frame and placed her hand on the other.

"So what brings you here?" she asked. She frowned slightly when she saw Rowen staring at her, eyes wide. "What?" Rowen didn't respond, apparently genuinely surprised or shocked. "What!" Roxi demanded, but all Rowen did was grimace and scratch the back of his head. "…Ohhh! This," Roxi grabbed a lock of her hair and flipped it to one side. Past her ears her hair looked sky-blue as he'd always seen, but from the top of her head to her ears her hair had turned orange. "I had to let it grow out. I used up the last bottle of the stuff I usually use last month, and I've been trying to reorder, but the company claims they discontinued it, which is bullshit, because I've been ordering in bulk for years…" Roxi grumbled to herself and walked inside. "Come on in." Rowen remained standing on the porch. Roxi leaned outside, scowling. "IN!" she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him inside then closed the door behind them.

"You know…you never told me why you started dyeing it in the first place. Or maybe I never asked," Rowen shrugged as he followed Roxi to the kitchen. Roxi smiled, reminiscing.

"My cousins and I used to go paint-balling, and I'd always win, but one of them complained my hair blended in so well with the trees on the course, they couldn't see me. So, I said I'd dye it the brightest, eye-popping-est blue I could find so I'd stand out more. They still couldn't find me," Roxi snickered. Rowen smiled at the story and leaned against the counter.

"Well, you could try this stuff they make on Thanged out of plant extract. It goes off your natural color and amplifies it. Sometimes it brings out shades you normally don't see, like Danae would've been a blonde originally…" Rowen trailed off at the searing look Roxi gave him.

"Rowen, I'm a carrot-head; my hair'd get oranger!" she snapped. Rowen bit his lip and averted his gaze. "No…I kind of like sticking out like a sore thumb. If they can't find any back stock, I'll have to see if there's any other place that carries this shade…prob the same shop the Elders go to…So what's on your mind?"

"Actually…hrm…where'd I put it…" Rowen began rummaging through his pockets. Roxi waited patiently and watched, amused, as Rowen looked down his back while checking every pocket he had. "Ah! There it is." Rowen pulled out an index card and held it up then cleared his throat. "'The Council of Houses and the estate of the Watch-Rider have decreed that, in recognition of their bravery at the Battle of the Citadel, the persons Roxi Hirochner, Shannon O'Connor, Lady Kayura, Mia Koji, and Brianna Johansen be awarded with a…'"

* * *

"OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOSH! IT'S JUST TOOO CUUUUUTE!" Britania squealed in delight and clasped her hands under her chin.

"It certainly is, but…what is it?" Mia asked. Master Breeder Norin stood with Kayura, Mia, Roxi, Shannon, and Brit in a loose circle outside of Mia's estate. The five of them eyed the squirming, red-furred critter Norin held in his hands.

"They are called fyrhundi-'fear hounds'-but do not let the name fool you. They are devoted companions, and mighty protectors as adults. They are descended from the legendary god-hound Xiar, blessed by Witheren herself and charged with keeping the gates of Thananagreia. Worthy souls with no shame or guilt greet him as they pass, and he is friendly. Much the same way, those that greet this little one will earn his love. He belongs to all of you now," Norin held up the fyrhund pup. Britania scooped it up and held it in both hands. The pup would've passed for any other type of dog if not for the curious batwing-shaped ears and the nine-branched tail.

"How big do they usually get?" Shannon asked, curious. Norin shrugged and lazily raised his hand, measuring a height just under his shoulder. "At the shoulder?"

"At the head," Norin replied. "As far as feeding and care, the…processed and gelled meats they make here should suffice. He can be bathed and brushed the same as any Oldworlder breed. I will leave him in your care now, for I have duties I must attend to at Mazzan. Thu the thakka," The rugged Master Breeder bowed politely and walked over to his own bronze and black-colored Pegasi. The five women watched him take off before turning their attention back to the pup.

"So…where do we keep him?" Britania asked as she stroked the pup's fur. The pup kept turning his head from side to side, trying to gnaw on Brit's fingers with teeth too soft to do more than tickle the skin. The others looked at Mia.

"Oh, don't look at me! I'm crowded enough as it is, and Whiteblaze would eat the poor thing up in a mouthful," Mia raised her hands and shook her head.

"I'd love to keep him, but my Dad wouldn't stand for it. He thinks pets are too unsanitary. He won't even let us keep fish," Shannon sighed then glanced at Kayura.

"Our apartment's dismally small for such an energetic animal. Besides, I doubt Sehkmet could be convinced to give up his basket…"

"Roxi…I think he'll have to stay with us."

"What?"

"She's right. You're the only other one with enough space for him," Shannon stated. Roxi looked from each of the others to the pup and frowned thoughtfully. As if trying to win her favor, the pup let out a curious moaning howl.

"Did you hear that? It sounded like he said 'I love you'!" Britania stroked the pup's chin.

"Eh…I dunno, it sounded more like 'Ah rah roo'," Shannon snickered.

"What should we call him?" Kayura asked.

"Hrm…we should name him, shouldn't we? Hrm…what about Clifford?"

"Clifford? What the heck kind of a name is Clifford?" Roxi wrinkled her nose.

"You know, 'Clifford, the Big Red Dog'?"

"No. Come on, we can do better than that…"

"Scooby?" Shannon suggested, grinning.

"Nooo…"

"Marmaduke?" Mia giggled.

"NO! Come on! This is a *_Thangien_* dog, he needs a Thangien name. You know how they have all sorts of colorful and mythic names like 'Apollo' and 'Blue Thunder'…" Roxi argued.

"…What about…'Gold Heart'?" Kayura recommended.

"Gold Heart? Where'd that come from?"

"Well, look at his chest. Can you see this little patch between his shoulders? It kind of stands out against the rest of him," Kayura leaned down and traced the shape in the pup's fur with the tip of her finger. The pup tried to reach down with his mouth to nibble her finger too. Roxi tilted her head to the side and eyed the yellowish roughly heart-shaped spot.

"Gold Heart…Goldheart… Yeah…that could work. Sounds Thangienish enough…" Goldheart let out another "I love you" howl, wagging his nine-branched tail ecstatically.

"See, he likes it!" Britania giggled and patted Goldheart again. Goldheart yipped in delight and glanced at each of them. Roxi reached over and rubbed the top of his head.

"Looks like you'll be staying at my place, Goldie…" she whispered.

* * *

Roxi would spend the next week 'dog-proofing' her cabin, making sure there were no stray objects on the floor that the fyrhund might choke on or misplace. Kayura donated sets of old sheets and pillows for the pup to sleep in, and Mia had a wonderful red bowl specially made inscribed with the pup's name and bordered by yellow hearts. Shannon provided medicines and grooming products, while Britania mostly paid for food.

A slightly larger Goldheart stood by his bowl and anxiously waited for Brit to tear open a bag of dog food. He raised his ears and lashed his branched tail from side to side and glanced from the bowl to the bag. Brit knelt down and poured out some kibble, and Goldheart thrust his muzzle into the mix. She had to skip out of the way as the pup began pushing the bowl over the floor as he ate. And so began one of his more humorous habits, as he'd spend several minutes pushing the bowl around the dining table trying to reach that one last bit of kibble. Unlike other dogs, he had a more wedge-shaped muzzle; just as he'd attempt to lap up the bit with his tongue, his nose would keep pushing the bowl, and the bit, away. Most of the time either Roxi or Britania would have to upend the bowl, as Goldheart wouldn't stop until he'd finished.

Another habit he developed was moving close enough to the chairs so his tails would whip the legs. Neither of the women paid much attention to exactly how tall he grew as weeks and months passed, but Roxi knew he got bigger as it seemed each week his tail would whap higher up on the chair legs and eventually the chair backs. At least six months would pass until it seemed he'd reached full growth, and he'd whack the backs of anyone's head seated at the table.

One evening Shannon had dropped by and the three women shared dinner. Roxi-her hair now completely orange- poured drinks and Britania stood up as Goldheart began his ritual.

"You ever try putting the bowl outside?" Shannon asked and leaned forward as Goldheart scooted behind her, the tips of his tails gracing the back of her head.

"He carries it back. Which is kind of silly; you'd think if he's smart enough to do that," Roxi paused and looked over her shoulder as the fyrhund passed by. "He'd tip it over himself."

"I think he just enjoys our company," Britania commented and gave Goldheart a pat as he continued making his rounds. "Shannon, has there been any word about Cye?" she asked worriedly, changing the subject.

"His condition hasn't changed any, but near as Dad can tell, he's in some sort of sub-conscious dream state. It's only been a day since the accident, so it'll probably be a couple more days until he wakes up. His armor protected him from the worst of the impact, at least. Kayura couldn't detect anything wrong with him magically, but she couldn't bring him out of it with the Staff either," Shannon said as she ate, being mindful of Goldheart as he passed by again.

"It's bad enough not knowing what's going on in his mind, but you should see poor Kento! He's beside himself with guilt over the whole thing!" Britania said and leaned forward.

"I would be too if I dropped a whole building on my best friend," Roxi snickered, but 'oofed' when Goldheart thwacked her chair. By now he'd gone through half of his food.

"Well, I wouldn't say a whole building…more like one-eighth," Brit shrugged.

"You want to know the weirdest part? Sage says Cye *_heard_* the warning, and he *_saw_* the building coming down, but he just kind of stood there, like a deer in headlights," Shannon commented. Roxi leaned over in her seat and looked under the table. The bowl looked nearly empty, but as always, Goldheart kept nosing it about the floor. Roxi scowled and stuck her foot out, catching the bowl as Goldheart approached. He continued lapping away.

"Gyaaagh!" Roxi squawked as she landed on the floor on her side. Goldheart resumed pushing his bowl after knocking Roxi out of her seat. Roxi watched him, annoyed. "You're just enjoying yourself, aren't you?" In response, Goldheart turned away from his bowl and stuck his huge head under the tablecloth, wiping his tongue over Roxi's chin. "Guhh…" Shannon and Britania laughed, and Brit used the opportunity to grab Goldheart's bowl and tap out the last kibble chunk. Goldheart pulled away from Roxi and lapped up the bit then exited the kitchen to nap. "Dumb dog…" Roxi grumbled and staggered to her feet and slid back into her chair.

"Well we know not to try *_that_* again. I can see why Thangiens value them as guard dogs. He's really strong, and he's not even a year old yet," Britania remarked.

"I know Mia was worried about Whiteblaze hurting him, but I wonder how they'd match up now. He's big enough to make a Great Dane look like a Chihuahua."

"We'll find out soon enough. Rowen wants me to bring him by soon to try and train him. It's not that he's been destructive or anything, but we kind of have a failure to communicate. He knows his name well enough, but if you ask him to stay, or sit, or shut the hell up when it's 5am in the morning…" Roxi trailed off and wagged her hand through the air.

"That should be fun… Let me know how it goes. I need to be getting back to the hospital." Shannon stated and stood up. "Thanks for the meal. I'll call you if Cye wakes up!" she called and walked out the door. Goldheart let out a series of moaning howls. "I love you too," Shannon laughed. He set his head back down when he heard Shannon's car leave.

"I'm gonna go shoot some rounds," Roxi said and headed for the door, grabbing her rifle and ammo belt. Goldheart looked her way and thumped his tails against the floor.

"Okay. I'll get started on the dishes," Britania stood up from her seat and began collecting plates and utensils. Roxi nodded and closed the door behind her and walked down the steps to the yard. She tugged her skeet launcher out and adjusted the settings before starting it up. The machine hummed and thumped, but Roxi frowned when she heard a different sounding thump. She glanced over to the porch and saw the fyrhund sitting on the steps, his nine tails creating a dull thump as they brushed over the wood.

"Come to give me an audience?" Roxi drawled and raised her rifle to the sky and took aim. The machine launched the first ceramic disc, and Roxi fired.

"BOWWUFH!"

Roxi scowled but didn't let it distract her as another skeet launched and she shot it to bits.

"BOWWUFH!"

Roxi sighed and switched the launcher off quickly then turned around. "I get a report from the gun already; I don't need one from you." Goldheart continued wagging his tails innocently. "Guh…dumb dog…" Roxi muttered and returned to practicing.

Roxi finished her practice drill after enduring a chorus of blast barks after each shot. She walked over to the deck and grabbed the can she used to collect spent shell casings, but when she turned around, she saw Goldheart snuffling over the ground, and no casings in sight. "Goldie…give'em here," Roxi said firmly. Goldheart looked her way and raised his ears, but didn't loll his tongue like he usually did. Roxi walked towards him and held the can to his face. "Goldheart…drop'em." Goldheart stuck his muzzle into the can and Roxi heard dozens of metallic pings from objects rattling inside the can. The pinging stopped and she pulled the can away and lifted it up to inspect. Sure enough, he'd deposited all of the spent casings, albeit with an extra helping of slobber. "Not-so-dumb dog," Roxi acknowledged and patted his head.

* * *

A lone man wiped the counter of his small diner with a towel. His employees had left some time ago after putting up the chairs and tidying up tables. The owner hummed to himself as he finished cleaning the counter and gathered up plastic trays to take to the sink. He paused when he heard the bell signaling the door opening, and saw a tall figure wearing a long trench coat and a wide-brimmed hat pulled so low, it entirely obscured the face.

"I'm sorry sir, but I'm just about to close up. If you're looking for a warm meal you're out of luck, but there's some sandwiches in the cooler if you need a bite to eat," the owner shrugged and set his trays down on a table. The stranger stood against the counter and looked in his direction, keeping both hands pushed deep into the pockets. The owner wiped glasses clean and set them out to dry and looked over his shoulder. "I can't offer much else, I'm afraid."

Without warning, something grabbed the owner by his shirt and jerked him to the counter. "Oh, you can offer me something," The man's eyes widened when he saw what looked like a canine's muzzle emerge from the deep shadows of the hat and coat collar. "But it will be more than just a bite…" furred lips moved over sharp white teeth.

No one walked down the sidewalk that late at night, so no one heard the gut-churning screams of terror, or saw blood splatter against the inside of the diner's door and the double-sided open/closed sign, or heard the snarling growls of a ravenous wolf.

* * *

"BOWWUFH! BOWWUFH!" Roxi groaned into the pillows and rolled onto her side. "BOWWUFH! BOWWUFH!" She sat up in bed with a growl and narrowed her eyes. Another annoying trait of the Fyrhund was his barking. He had loud, deep, bellowing barks that caused small objects nearby to skitter in place and seemed to echo for miles. Outside in the yard, Goldheart sat on the ground barking loud enough to cause the reinforced glass panes of the windows to rattle slightly. Roxi slammed the door open and stormed onto the porch wearing slippers and a night robe, looking very irritated.

"No! No no no! Stop! Stop! It's not even sunrise yet!" Roxi clamped her hands around the fyrhund's muzzle and held his mouth shut. Goldheart stared at her innocently. Roxi slowly pulled her hands back, but had to clamp them down again when Goldheart tried to bark. "No! Stop it." She muffled the fyrhund once more. "No," she renewed her grip when Goldheart's ears went up and he wheezed. "Quiet…there, that's good." She stood up and turned around.

"BOWWUFH!"

"Rrrrrgh…Fine! You want to play? Here!" Roxi picked up a colorful rope toy Brianna had bought and flung it with all her might into the woods. Goldheart's ears went up and he bounded after it. Roxi sighed and walked back to the porch and sat down on the steps. She folded her arms over her knees and tried to nap. She moaned when she heard the fyrhund return and looked up sleepily. Instead of the rope, Goldheart held what looked like a partially decomposed leg bone from a small animal. "…I'm not gonna ask where you got that."

Sometime later after Britania had roused and they'd had breakfast, Roxi dragged Goldheart to the truck and opened the backseat door and nudged him inside. "Are you sure we should go today?" Brit asked, concerned as she seated herself in the passenger side.

"Why not? We couldn't go the first time because half the city was locked up inside some evil pink bubble, and before *_that_* the guys were busy chasing down Tanya because she ran off to Scotland for some reason. Better take him now before aliens start invading." Roxi grumbled and hauled herself into the driver's seat and buckled up.

"But we've never taken Goldie anywhere since we brought him here. Traveling might upset him. Couldn't we have asked Rowen to help port him over?"

"He's gotta get used to driving someday. Besides, Rowen's got other things to do than taxiing a dog back and forth," Roxi stated as she glanced over her shoulder while she backed out and turned the truck around. Goldheart's tall frame obscured the rear-view mirror. As they headed down the road, the fyrhund kept glancing from side to side at trees and signposts sweeping past. They could hear his tails whapping about in the back seat when they entered traffic. Goldheart swung his huge head into Brianna's face as he looked out the window.

"No…" Brit gently pushed his head away until he faced forward. Roxi had shifted the truck into the center lane, but nearly lost control when Goldheart looked out the driver's side window.

"Get! Back down!" Roxi scolded and elbowed the dog's head away. Goldheart seemed to settle for glancing to either side. Roxi kept her eyes on the highway while Britania looked out the passenger side window. The truck came alongside a small car, and Brit spotted a small white dog she recognized as a Lhasa-Poo standing up in the back seat. It stared through the window with tiny black eyes and yipped sharply in the general direction of the truck.

"BOWWUFH! BOWWUFH!" Goldheart answered to this perceived challenge and abruptly sprang into the front seat, placing his huge paws on the button panel of the passenger side door. Britania squealed in terror as the window rolled down and Goldheart stuck his head and shoulders out the window. "BOWWUFH! BOWWUFH!"

"GET HIM BACK INSIDE!" "I'M TRYING! HE'S TOO HEAVY TO MOVE!" "HIS DAMN TAIL'S IN MY FACE!" "WATCH THE ROAD!" "GOLDIE! GET THE HELL BACK IN YOUR SEAT!" All the while Britania and Roxi shrieked and screamed, Goldheart kept trying to knock the offending car and poodle off the highway with the force of his barks alone. The driver stared at the fyrhund, shocked by the wedge-shaped muzzle and batwing ears. The thoroughly traumatized poodle disappeared from view, retreating under the seats of the car.

"THAT DOES IT!-" Roxi restrained herself from slamming on the breaks and signaled a lane change, limping over to the shoulder. Goldheart's forelegs dangled over the outside of the door and he continued blasting away at cars moving ahead. Roxi stopped the truck entirely and stormed out of her door, making her way around the front end to the passenger side. She threw the door open and grabbed Goldheart by the collar. Britania squeaked and grunted in protest as Goldheart clambered over her on the way out, his branched tail whapping her face. The frame of the truck bounced up slightly from the relief of the weight. Roxi led Goldheart to the rear bumper and kept one hand firmly around his collar while she unlocked the tailgate with the other. Britania remained in her seat and tapped her fingers on her seat belt.

"Get a leash!" someone in a passing car had the audacity to heckle, but Roxi ignored it as she tugged Goldheart into the truck bed. The frame sank slightly from the reintroduction of his weight. Only her grip on his collar kept him from bounding off into traffic as Roxi searched for the cables she usually used for securing heavy loads. She hooked the ends into the steel anchors built into the sides and slipped the other ends through Goldheart's collar. Only then did Roxi dare take her hand off the Fyrhund's collar and walk back to the tailgate to shut it. Then she stalked back to the driver's side door and got in. Britania remained quiet, as Roxi looked frayed enough already. She started the ignition and waited for an opening before re-entering traffic.

Goldheart kept trying to lunge to either side, but the four cables hooked into his collar held him fast. His movements, however, still affected the truck, as Roxi had to make small adjustments to keep from swerving off the lane. Britania glanced from her fingers clenched around the steering wheel, knuckles white, to her face with lips pulled tight over her teeth. Any comment or lighthearted joke Brit wanted to make she held back for fear of drawing Roxi's ire.

When they pulled up the driveway to the Koji estate, Ryo walked out to greet them. The two women got out and Roxi walked towards Ryo while Britania headed for the tailgate to let Goldheart out. Ryo couldn't see much from where he stood other than a wagging tail. "You look like you had a rough trip." The Ronin Leader never failed to be blatantly honest.

"That's putting it lightly…" Roxi grumbled and stuffed her hands into her pockets. "Where's Rowen? I need to pick that oversized-brain of his about training Thangien dogs…"

"Anubis dragged him into the city. He's trying to make sure there aren't any ancient artifacts of ancient doom sitting in someone's collection."

"What? He said he'd be here when I called! Ugh…" Roxi ran her fingers through her orange hair and sighed in frustration.

"If you want, you could hang around here. He should be back in about-" Ryo's eyes strayed to the tailgate of the truck as Britania had to stand on her tiptoes to keep her grip on something. He'd only heard stories about the Thangiens' exotic gift but never seen it for himself before. The truck bounced up once again as Goldheart sprang down onto the ground and started sniffing about, moving out from behind the truck. "WHOA!" Ryo's eyes went wide at the sight of the fyrhund in comparison to the truck. "Is that your dog? He's huge! He's bigger than Whiteblaze!" he exclaimed. Roxi couldn't help but notice how he said 'your', but looked over her shoulder and smirked when Brianna lost her grip on the collar and Goldheart wandered off.

"Eh, he's taller allright, but I reckon he's not nearly as heavy." Britania seated herself on the tailgate and the three of them watched as Goldheart caught sight of a white form lying in the shade. "Speaking of…I think he's going to say hi…" Roxi winced as the fyrhund loped over.

Whiteblaze grimaced and opened one eye a crack in reaction to the blasts of warm air hitting his face and saw a large wedge-shaped muzzle snuffling all over his face. The tiger had never seen a fyrhund before, nor had the fyrhund seen a tiger. Whiteblaze lashed his tail in warning.

Goldheart jerked his head straight up when he saw this and raised both ears. Whiteblaze lashed his tail once more, and Goldheart's head turned to follow the movement. He cautiously stepped over, watching the striped tail intently. Whiteblaze twitched his ears and watched, bemused, as the fyrhund lunged, trying to clamp his jaws around the tail, but the tiger swept it out of reach. Goldheart tried to bite it again, but once more Whiteblaze flicked it away.

"…yeah, that can't possibly end in a good way…" Ryo muttered.

"Well, maybe you can help me then. How did you train Whiteblaze?" Roxi asked.

"Erm…I didn't. Whiteblaze has always been his own cat. He understands you perfectly, and he'll always help if you ask," Ryo explained. Meanwhile, Whiteblaze continued toying with the fyrhund, as Goldheart seemed to consider the tail a threat. He showed no sign of tiring, so Whiteblaze settled back down to resume his nap while continuing to whip his tail back and forth.

"What if he does something he's not supposed to?" Whiteblaze's eyes popped wide when he felt something sharp clamp around his tail abruptly.

"He wouldn't. He's too considerate." The three of them looked in the direction of the high-pitched yelp of pain and angry roaring.

"Goldie!" Roxi exclaimed and she and Ryo ran towards the source.

Much later Goldheart sat on the ground with Roxi kneeling beside him trying to tape gauze over three huge, deep red marks in the reddish fur over his right shoulder. "You dumb dog, why'd you have to go off aggravating Whiteblaze like that?" she scolded. Goldheart glanced about idly, oddly enough without whining or whimpering as Roxi tended to the wound. "Well I hope you learned not to mess with a 500lb Tibetan tiger again."

"Here, I brought some more tape, just in case that doesn't hold," Britania offered.

"Thanks," Roxi accepted the roll and made several wide loops around the fyrhund's thick neck and chest.

"I'm kinda glad you decided not to use G'thru extract, otherwise your hair would've ended up looking like a construction sign" a voice teased. Roxi threw an annoyed scowl over her shoulder. "Don't get me wrong, I like the new look. It's nice and kind of like a sunset…"

"You're a terrible flatterer, Rowen Hashiba," Roxi grumbled as Rowen knelt by her. "So, find any ancient artifacts of ancient doom?"

"Naw, but that's a good thing, since the ones Anubis could identify were duds. …I see he met Whiteblaze. That'll leave a mark…" Rowen muttered as he examined the patch.

"At least he's not fussing about it. Unless he's barking his fool head off, he's usually very quiet… Actually, now that I think about it, I never see him pant either."

"You wouldn't. Earth breeds pant to release excess heat. Fyrhundi release heat through their tails," Rowen explained. Roxi raised both eyebrows and looked at Goldheart's branched tail.

"…Oh…huh…that's why he's always wagging. And here I thought he was really happy."

"Well that too. He's in remarkably excellent condition. Looks like the cabin's been good for him." Rowen patted the fyrhund's neck. "So Ryo says you came for training?"

"Yes! I need you to teach this dumb dog to behave himself and listen to me!"

"Well, it's a good thing I took the time to jot down a few words while I had that dictionary from Raaezen…" Rowen pulled out another of his nifty index cards and held it up but held back whatever he wanted to say when he saw Roxi's expression.

"Rowen, I'm not gonna talk to the dog in Thangien."

"It's just to get him familiarized with your voice-"

"I'VE HAD HIM FOR OVER SIX MONTHS! HE'S *_BEEN_* FAMILIARIZED WITH MY VOICE!" Rowen recoiled slightly. "He should understand me when I tell him to sit, roll over, and do taxes!" The two of them glanced at the fyrhund as if expecting him to do all of the spoken commands, but he remained on the ground with ears raised and tails wagging.

"Roxi, look, you forget that fyrhundi aren't house pets, they're house protectors. There isn't a thing Goldheart does that isn't meant to protect you. Keep in mind, he was bred and weaned on Thanged. He identifies with Thangien commands best. We'll start out with the basics, and each time you say them to him, use your own words so he'll identify one with the other. Eventually you won't have to use the Thangien words." Roxi let out a disappointed sigh but nodded in agreement. While Rowen talked, Goldheart spotted two people come outside.

"I can't believe I'm using this thing…" Tanya grumbled as she hobbled out onto the lawn with Mia by her side. The Lady Ronin's fingers were wrapped around a fine polished cane.

"You were too stubborn and proud to use the crutches. Besides, treat it with some respect. It was a gift to my Grandfather from a colleague," Mia said. *_And he didn't live long enough to need to use it…*_ As if sensing the unspoken comment, Tanya's surly attitude cooled.

"Goldie!" Roxi shouted when Goldheart bounded towards the two. Britania went after him.

"Eh, let him go. It'll give us more time to polish your pronunciations." Rowen waved lazily.

"I told you it was a bad idea not to let me exercise. I can't even walk right…"

"Your legs are just stiff. You've been in bed over a week. It shouldn't take as long to get you back into shape-ooh!" Mia jumped in surprise when a large red dog loped up to them.

"What the f-" Tanya leaned back slightly as the dog began snuffling all over her thighs.

"Oh, that's just Goldheart. He's Roxi's dog, from Thanged" Mia explained. Roxi's hearing was just sharp enough to hear that and she glanced at them. Tanya leaned down until their noses almost touched and glowered fiercely at Goldheart with her bronze-brown eyes.

Britania came to a stop when she saw Goldheart turn around, lie on his stomach, then roll onto his back with his legs curled close. His typically active tail stopped completely.

"How'd she do that!" Roxi exclaimed and pointed at Tanya.

"Eh? Huh? Oh, she expressed dominance. Basically she conveyed to him not to mess with her," Rowen explained absently. Roxi watched bewildered as Goldheart remained rigid.

"I gotta try that sometime…" Roxi muttered. Britania knelt next to the fyrhund.

"He just wants his tummy rubbed, don't you?" Brianna ran her palms over Goldheart's chest. Tanya straightened herself and leaned on the cane, apparently appeased for the moment.

"I'm surprised by how clean he is, especially living out there at the cabin," Mia commented.

"Haven't had a problem with bugs either. I guess they don't like Thangien blood." Brianna stood up and stepped over to stand next to Mia. Tanya kept glaring at the fyrhund, who looked at her entreatingly. "At least he didn't knock you over like he used to. I think he's learned not to get over-excited, like that one time with Sage…"

"What happened to Sage?" Mia frowned.

"Oh, he didn't tell you? No, I suppose he wouldn't have…well…once a couple months back Sage came up to the cabin with Shannon…and Goldie doesn't see as much of her…so when he saw Sage the first time he kind of…" Britania winced in recollection.

"He didn't!" Mia clamped a hand over her mouth, imagining the scene in her mind.

"He did. And half as big as Goldheart is now is still pretty big…"

"Oh no…" While Britania told the story, Tanya's expression towards Goldheart seemed to have softened slightly. She glanced from side to side then jerkily moved her leg forward.

"It'd been raining earlier that day too."

"Oh hoo hoo!" Mia giggled. "I shouldn't laugh but I just can't help it! Sage is always so particular! He must've been mortified!"

"Now you can't get him within a mile of the dog…hey…look," Britania lowered her voice to a whisper and elbowed Mia, nodding towards the side. Tanya rubbed her right heel against Goldheart's chest, flexing the leg she'd complained of being so stiff earlier with ease.

"Goldie!" Roxi called suddenly. Tanya glanced up and saw Britania and Mia beaming at her. Her slight smile vanished and she slipped her foot under Goldheart's back.

"Shoo!" she growled and nudged him. Goldheart rolled onto all fours and loped over to Roxi and Rowen.

"Okay, now you can practice what I taught you," Rowen stated. Before she said anything, Roxi leaned forward and tried to glower at Goldheart the same way Tanya had.

"Goldie? Do you understand me? I'm your master, okay? So you need to listen to me and do as I say." Instead of rolling onto his back, Goldheart's tongue slipped out and he wiped it over Roxi's face. Rowen nearly fell over guffawing loudly, while Roxi grimaced. "Yes, you give kisses…" she muttered and wiped her face with her sleeve.

"Stiadeno," Rowen began. Goldheart snapped to attention and his tails went rigid.

"Be still…Ceniln." Goldheart sat down in the grass. "Sit…Moretan." The fyrhund sprang to all fours and toppled over dramatically. "Play dead. Vuen." Goldheart rose to all fours again and let out one of his echoing blast barks. "Speak. Well, looks like he's getting the gist of it so far…but what if I want him to get something? Here, watch this," Roxi walked over to the house steps where she saw the morning's newspaper. She picked it up by the plastic sleeve covering it, not noticing at all the bold headline reading "No leads in diner dismembering". Roxi hurled the newspaper as far as she could. Goldheart immediately sprang after it. Goldheart returned seconds later carrying Sage's bokken. "SHIT! How do I tell him to put it back!" Roxi whirled from side to side frantically as if expecting Sage to come in search of it angrily.

"Oeret!" Rowen ordered and snapped his fingers, pointing towards the forest. Goldheart carried the bokken in the direction he'd come from. "Okay, I think I see what the problem is. He takes it as a type of rejection, not of him necessarily, but he sees you throwing it away so he thinks you don't like it and he's trying to find something of similar size or weight to please you."

"Okay… but how do I tell him to bring something back?" Roxi asked as Goldheart returned empty-mouthed. Rowen snapped his fingers again.

"Tervu veilha." Goldheart took off again and returned with the newspaper. "Now you try."

"Darfu veikla," Roxi said and hurled the paper into the forest. Instead of going after it, Goldheart bounded down the driveway baying loudly. Roxi threw her hands up in exasperation and slapped her palms against her hips. "What'd I do!" Rowen pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Okay, first off, it's 'tervu'; the V is silent. Second, there's a slight inflection you missed-"

"Well ex*_CUSE_* me if I'm not fluent in flippin' Thangien, Professor Hashiba!" Roxi ran her fingers through her orange hair and sighed. "Okay then, what *_did_* I say?"

"You told him to hunt a car…"

"…Oh shit! The road!" Roxi took off running when she heard distant car horns and screeching tires, punctuated by blast barks. Rowen followed to help.

* * *

After coming home that night, Roxi went straight to bed completely exhausted from the day's activities. She had just enough energy to shuck her jeans and shirt and change into more comfortable night clothes then eased under the covers. However, just as she closed her eyes to settle in to sleep, she heard a faint scratching outside the bedroom door, followed by snuffling. "Come on in…" Roxi moaned then rubbed her eyes. "Uhh…Salbas…" she added sleepily. She couldn't see much over the foot of the bed other than the door being opened jerkily. She caught sight of a branched tail wagging energetically as it moved into the room and came around the bed towards her. The mattress creaked as Goldheart heaved himself onto the bed and settled down beside Roxi. She couldn't help but chuckle and reached out and stroked his ears gently, being mindful of the delicate bones inside. "Not-so-dumb dog…" she whispered.

Whether intended or not, Goldheart had become *_her_* dog. None of the other women spent as much time with him as Roxi. He remained friendly to them as always, but he responded to her best. The fyrhund set his huge head down on the sheets and Roxi gave him a pat before attempting to go to sleep herself. She recalled how Danae had snubbed her when the others traveled to Thanged…and now she'd been granted one of their highest honors.

* * *

The following morning she wasn't woken by Goldheart's blast barking, but by furious pounding on the front door coupled with the faint crunching of metal. Roxi groaned and sat up slowly, taking a few seconds to yawn and stretch. She paused in running her hand through her hair when she saw the wrinkled indention in the covers Goldheart had occupied through the night. Roxi sighed and threw on some loose pants and a shirt before heading out to investigate.

"Yes, what is it?" she grumbled as she opened the already unlocked door. A man in a blue and white uniform stood on the porch and pointed to the driveway.

"Miss Hirochner, can you *_please_* tell your dog to stop destroying my van?" he growled. Roxi looked past him and blinked in surprise at what she saw. Goldheart was ramming his neck and shoulders against the rear right wheel well, causing the metal to buckle.

"…I'm sorry mister, but where he comes from that's just his way of saying he likes you."

"Well I'd prefer if he *_didn't_* like me! I can sue you for destruction of property, you know!"

"Look, I'll pay for the cost of the repairs to your vehicle," Roxi said sternly. The man sputtered angrily and glanced from her to the van. The dent grew literally inch by inch. "Either that, or you lose your method of transportation."

"Fine, fine…I was just trying to drop this off anyway…" the man nodded to a cardboard box sitting on the porch. Roxi whistled sharply to get Goldheart's attention. The fyrhund ceased his destructive mischief and trotted over to the porch. Roxi grabbed him by the collar and dragged him inside, keeping a tight grip on him while she searched for her checkbook. She headed back outside, pulling Goldheart with her, and muttered under her breath the Thangien command to stay, not wanting the man to hear her speaking in another language. She used his broad back as a makeshift desk and wrote out a rough estimated cost of the damage to the frame. The man wrinkled his face and tilted his head from side to side, trying to get a better look at the fyrhund. "What kind of dog is that anyway?" he asked suddenly.

"He…is…a…Siberian Mastiff. Very rare, only a handful are bred each year," Roxi said matter-of-factly. The man nodded, seeming to accept that answer despite the batwing ears and branched tails. Roxi detached the check and handed it to him.

"Gorgeous dog…oh wow…erm…thanks very much Miss Hirochner," the man blinked when he saw the amount on the check and nodded politely to her. "You two have a good day," he said and headed back to his van. Roxi ordered Goldheart to be silent as the man drove off then bent down and picked up the box and carried it inside. She set the box on the table and noticed a white envelope taped to one side. She peeled it open and pulled out a folded sheet of paper. "…'Dear Ms. Hirochner, we regret to inform you that there are no plans to restore the product you requested. However, we were able to locate a case to fill your current order. As always, your satisfaction remains our priority. We hope in the future you express interest in other products in our line of quality hair-'…" Roxi set the letter down and peeled open the cardboard box. It contained dozens of bottles of dye, the same eye-blinding blue she'd used for years before.

"…I think I'll save these for a rainy day…" Roxi muttered and closed the box.

"Good morning you two! Roxi, you ready?" Britania greeted cheerfully as she entered the kitchen wearing shorts and a lattice-knit shirt over a yellow bathing suit.

"Ready for what? I had to answer the door," Roxi tapped the box with the folded letter.

"Oh, was that what that sound was? I couldn't hear anything from the bathroom. Don't you remember? We're supposed to meet the others at the beach today!"

"…Beach! Duh! I completely forgot about…what'd Ryo call it? 'A recreational outing'?"

"There hasn't been any new activity recently, so why not pounce on the moment."

"I'll be ready to go in five minutes," Roxi said and carried the box with her to her room. Goldheart waited in the kitchen patiently until Roxi returned dressed for sun and warm water. "Okay, Goldie? Gilve uarsag," she commanded. Goldheart licked his nose and folded his ears.

"What'd you tell him?" Britania asked as she held the door open for Roxi.

"'Keep an eye on the place'. I wish we could take him, but if Whiteblaze can't go out in public, neither can he. We won't be gone that long anyway. We'll be back in a few hours," Roxi assured and shut the door behind her, making sure the outside locks were in place. Goldheart raised his ears and listened to the sound of the truck backing out and driving away.

He walked over to the door and nosed the inner locks shut then proceeded to patrol the rooms, making sure all the windows and storm shutters were shut and locked. Satisfied, he headed to the kitchen and nosed open the pantry door, where Britania hid his food. He pushed the bag open then stuck his head inside. Eating straight out of the bag definitely proved easier than using the bowl. After a minute or two of grainy crunches, the fyrhund withdrew his head and closed his teeth around the top edges of the bag, working it shut then rolling the edge down.

Satisfied with the cabin integrity and sated from his meal, he walked out into the living room, passing alongside some of the display racks and cases. He paused when he passed by the painting of Roxi's grandfather and looked up until his nose almost touched the image of the hunting dog. He stood there for several moments, staring at the painting respectfully. Then he moved away and proceeded down the hall. His wagging tails, however, brushed against one of the metal stands holding an antique revolver. Goldheart halted and looked over his shoulder. He quickly maneuvered his tails down, catching the toppling stand gently. He managed to lift the stand and revolver back onto the table, his branched tails moving like fingers nudging it back into place.

Now more mindful of the displays, he kept his tails lowered until he entered the open space of the living room. He clambered onto the sofa and settled down among the cushions to nap. Roxi never objected him to being on the furniture because of his inherent cleanliness, and he'd practically been born housebroken. The clock on the wall read nine when he closed his eyes.

It read one when Goldheart opened his eyes and raised his head. His ears fanned out like the wings of a threatened bird and he hopped off the sofa. It was very faint, very quiet, but he sensed something outside. Instead of growling, he remained silent and walked alongside the walls, following the disturbance as it seemed to pace outside. The disturbance approached one of the windows, and the fyrhund listened intently as he heard hot breath and soft growling through the wooden storm shutters and reinforced glass.

The disturbance moved on, towards another window, and Goldheart followed it. Then it came around the corner of the cabin, and he heard soft clicking similar to the sounds his paws made against the wood as the disturbance moved onto the porch. Goldheart's tails spread like splayed fingers and he held his head erect when the door rattled slightly. The growling grew louder and more guttural, and the door shook violently, but the multiple locks and frame held.

Goldheart didn't growl in return, but took deep breaths as if about to blast bark. The disturbance seemed to lose interest and moved away, until Goldheart no longer sensed it in the immediate vicinity of the cabin. He lowered his tails and folded his ears then raised them again when he heard the familiar sound of a truck engine. He nosed open all of the door locks from the inside and turned the doorknob with his mouth and bounded into the driveway.

"I told you we'd be back! We missed you too, Goldie!" Britania rubbed his head as she stepped out of the passenger seat. Roxi shut the driver's side door and walked towards the porch. She and Britania headed inside with Goldheart following between them eagerly.

A few minutes after the door closed, something pushed aside the branches of a leafy bush some distance from the cabin. It attempted to move closer, but paused when a second vehicle came up the driveway. It retreated behind cover and watched as a lanky blonde woman got out and slowly walked onto the porch and knocked on the door.

"Shannon?" Roxi had changed out of her swimsuit and into her comfortable shirt and jeans with her denim jacket and greeted the Cross Bearer with a concerned frown. "Where were you this morning? You missed all the fun at the beach."

"…I'm sorry, I just didn't want to be a downer on everyone's good time. I wasn't exactly in the mood for fun in the sun today…" Shannon muttered and sat down on the steps.

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" Roxi leaned against the rail and looked at her.

"Not to me," Shannon folded her arms over her knees and grabbed the sleeves of her shirt. Britania came outside, curious about the unexpected visit, and Goldheart followed. "I just found out that a…colleague of mine…was killed a few weeks ago. No…" Shannon shook her head and tried to suppress tears. "He wasn't killed, or murdered…he was *_butchered_*…*_slaughtered_*! He was interning at a forensics lab in Tokyo. Police found him and an entire security team dead…I didn't *_know_* him, but I *_knew_* him, you know?" Shannon whined.

"I'm sorry to hear…do they have any leads?" Roxi asked.

"They didn't release any details…but I hope they find the…*_animal_* that did this…He didn't deserve to die like that…none of them did…" Shannon wiped tears from her cheeks.

"I'm sure they will," Brianna assured softly. Goldheart began licking Shannon's face.

"Goldie, not now! Leave her alone," Roxi scolded.

"It's okay…really," Shannon chuckled weakly.

Britania went inside and came back out carrying a rawhide bone. "This should keep him busy. Go get it!" Brit threw the bone into the forest. The fyrhund bounded after it.

"I wanted to talk to Sage but when I tried calling he didn't answer…"

"The guys stayed behind after we left…" Britania trailed off when she saw Goldheart return carrying a lichen-encrusted branch. "NO! NO NO NO! Does that look *_anything_* like what I threw!"

"Rowen says it's a rejection issue. He thinks we don't like it, so he tries to replace it. I know dogs are colorblind but I'm starting to wonder if there's such a thing as shape-blindness."

"Well how do I tell him to bring it back! Those cost money, you know!"

"Oeret. Tervu veilha. Get the bone," Roxi said carefully, making sure to use English commands in conjunction with Thangien. Goldheart obeyed and turned to the side to leave. "If you want you can spend the night here. Calm your nerves some," Roxi offered.

"Thanks…I'd appreciate it…I just can't stand losing someone I know, however briefly…"

"Roxi, did you tell him the wrong word? What's he doing?" Britania spoke up suddenly. Roxi and Shannon looked up and saw Goldheart standing by the truck with his left foreleg raised, ears stretched to the fullest and tails splayed and rigid. He stretched his neck forward and stared intently at something in the forest. Shannon and Britania looked confused, but Roxi frowned.

"…He's pointing…There's something out there. I'm not taking any chances, I'm calling Rowen." Roxi took a step towards the door. Suddenly branches cracked and leaves rustled a short distance from the cabin. The three women glanced in the direction of the commotion.

A gray-furred form sprang out into the open. It stood on two legs and wore tattered blue pants and carried a sword of some kind at its' waist, but resembled a wolf more than a human by way of features. It glared at the women with yellow eyes and snarled angrily.

"It's back! It's back! Shannon, get inside! Hurry!" Britania screamed and pulled Shannon to her feet and shoved her towards the door. Britania had nearly gotten Shannon inside when the both of them stopped upon realizing the werewolf hadn't come after them at all. Roxi took a tentative step towards the cabin, but the werewolf's eyes followed her, not Shannon.

"It's after *_her_*!" Shannon croaked. The werewolf drew a cutlass from the scabbard hanging from its' belt and raised it before lunging. Roxi's eyes widened from shock.

Suddenly a red-furred form intervened. Strong jaws clamped around the wrist of the arm holding the cutlass and jerked it from side to side. The werewolf dropped the cutlass and clawed and pushed at Goldheart. Britania used the distraction to run inside and fetch Roxi's Sharps, and scooped up a small red box from a shelf by the door. She ran back outside and tossed the rifle and box at Roxi, who caught it easily. Before she could load the rifle, however, the werewolf backhanded Goldheart fiercely, dazing the fyrhund enough so that he released his grip. The werewolf turned its attention to Roxi and growled deeply.

Succumbing to flight, Roxi turned and took off into the forest running as fast as her legs allowed. The werewolf might have easily caught her if Goldheart hadn't revived long enough to tackle it from behind, bearing down with his weight and biting at its' ears. The werewolf heaved the persistent fyrhund off and bounded after Roxi, with Goldheart baying angrily.

"We gotta go after them! She couldn't beat one on her own the last time!"

"Shouldn't we call the guys?"

"By the time they get here it might already be too late. No, she needs our help *_now_*," Shannon said as she and Brit ran in the direction of pursuer and pursued. Suddenly Goldheart sprang infront of them, forcing them to come to a stop. "Goldie, what the hell are you doing?" The fyrhund crouched down slightly and bowed his head. "…Is he telling us to ride him?"

"Can he support our weight?"

"He seems to think so." The fyrhund waited for the two women to straddle his back before rising and bounding forth. Sure enough, the fyrhund's long legs and broad back proved just as strong and sturdy as a horse, or tiger for that matter. "Do you know…the story of the fyrhundi?" Shannon asked as they sped through the forest. "Ages ago, on Thanged, there lived a farmer who was plagued by thieves constantly, and he prayed to Witheren for protection. She gave him Xiar, the god-hound, to keep watch over his lands and chase away any intruders. The farmer was pleased for a time, until one day Xiar came across children trying to steal from the crops.

"They were hungry and weak and Xiar pitied them, but the farmer ordered Xiar to kill them. Xiar refused and turned on his master, because he would not harm innocents. Angered by the farmer's greed and selfishness, Witheren withdrew her gift and cursed the land so that it would be unfertile, and the farmer was forced to wander the land hungry and alone same as those he'd turned away so many times before. Xiar, on the other hand, was given to Roth to keep watch on the gates of Thananagreia, the citadel-chapel said to be the home of the Gods.

"After the farmer died, miserable and poor, Witheren lifted the curse on his land and turned it into the garden of Tirmutua. Centuries later, Xiar grew bored and lonely, so he disguised himself as a common hound and roamed Bainshaebo in search of a mate. He found his true love, and from their union came the fyrhundi. Thangiens prize them as protectors because Witheren bestowed them with kindness and wise judgment." Goldheart bayed loudly, as if acknowledging Shannon's recital. He moved swiftly and seemed to know where Roxi had fled.

* * *

Roxi swore out loud when she tripped and scraped her hand against a protruding root knot. She scrambled to her feet and kept running, wanting to keep as much distance between herself and the werewolf as possible. Then she glanced at her bleeding palm and frowned thoughtfully. As she passed a tree, she reached out and slapped her hand across the bark.

The werewolf paused in its' pursuit and raised his nose to the air, catching the scent of blood. It followed the scent to a tree and saw a bit of blood smeared over the bark, and after further inspection found traces of skin and sweat. It growled in approval; now it had the girl's scent, and it followed that scent up the slope. It paused once more when it found another tree, similarly marked. The trail started to meander to the side, and it followed the marks, but stopped when it realized the marks lead in a circle, with the blood traces at slight varieties of age. The werewolf snarled in rage and stalked to and fro, trying to determine the freshest marks.

Its' ears went up when it caught sight of something: bluish grey against the light green and browns of leaves and bark. It dropped to all fours and crept towards the object, as it recognized it as the jacket the girl usually wore. The girl apparently thought she could hide unnoticed in the green. The werewolf stalked closer and finally lunged, sinking its' claws into the fabric. Instead of finding soft flesh underneath, though, it found only air and twigs. Enraged, the werewolf grasped the jacket in both paws and tore it in half before tossing the rags aside.

"You're very clever, girl! If you hadn't slaughtered my pack mates, we might've considered inducting you into our ranks!" he shouted and turned around in place.

"Why the hell would I want to be part of your flea-bitten family in the first place?" His ears went up when he heard the voice, but it seemed to echo from all directions, and he couldn't pinpoint it. "Besides, if you want to get technical about it…I wasn't the one who killed them."

From where she sat straddled on a high tree branch, Roxi watched the werewolf search for her voice. He even looked straight in her direction at one point but he kept turning, unable to spot her, and she knew why; He'd been looking for the bright-blue hair. Since the color had long since grown out, her hair now blended with the natural shades of the trees. She couldn't stay hidden forever, though, and her only chance of surviving rest in getting the first shot. She covered the barrel of her rifle with one hand while she slowly opened it, hoping the ambient sounds of the forest and the werewolf's own enraged snarling would drown out the slight sounds.

"Now that I remember…it was kinda funny, watching them go down…" Roxi taunted, her voice rebounding off the many nearby trees. "The chunky one was the first to go…you should've seen how Lyor and Jaguaradina tackled him midair…the sound his neck made as they twisted it around…" Roxi carefully slid shells into both barrels. "The girl ones went next…at the same time too. The foxy one didn't see it coming when Iguadalupen shot at her like a buzzsaw…literally left her beside herself." The werewolf became increasingly enraged, and she capitalized on this by continuing. "Heh heh…The ugly ugly one, now *_that_* was funny to watch. Hollywood can't come close to making a shark look that good coming out of the water all the way, hovering in the air just long enough to count the teeth in his mouth…left her in pieces… Then the big one with three heads got real upset. He went for Ryo, but Raurgoth arrived at the last second and sent him flying clear across the slope…I don't think they ever found his body…"

"You didn't have to murder them! If you hadn't interfered with my mission and just let me kill the Guardian, they wouldn't have come after you just to avenge me!"

"So what, I was supposed to let you kill Shannon? Like hell! She's my friend! You think she *_wanted_* you to tear her to bits? Are you out of your mangy mind?"

"Don Marquin will have his vengeance! Your blood will sate my hunger!" Roxi carefully turned around in her seat and took aim.

No matter how she held the rifle, no matter how she tried to muffle the sounds, she could not silence the click of the hammer. Don Marquin's ears went up in alarm and he whirled around. He sprang sideways, barely dodging the swarm of silver pellets. The crack of the report echoed, but the stench of black powder came from one direction only. He looked up and saw the faint cloud as it drifted away from the muzzle of a gun. Roxi fired again, but Don Marquin moved faster and avoided once more. Roxi hurriedly cracked open the barrel and quickly reloaded and shot again, but the agile werewolf managed to duck each shot. He growled angrily and scrambled up the trunk swiftly. Roxi swung her legs around and clambered down to another branch, avoiding Don Marquin's slash, his claws lodging deep into the bark.

The branch Roxi tried moving to snapped under her weight, and she grasped helplessly for another. She dropped towards the ground and landed on her side, grunting from the impact. Thick mats of leaves and roots cushioned her fall, but she slipped and stumbled as she scrambled to her feet. Don Marquin nimbly landed just a few feet away. Roxi swung her rifle up and the two stood there facing each other.

"…By the time you reload…I will have already torn out your throat…" Don Marquin said softly and shook his head almost in pity. He took a step towards her, and she took a step back.

She couldn't hide how scared she was. This time there was no Ronin, or mountain ram, or dragon to save her. She wiped her tongue over her dried lips and flexed her fingers around the stock and barrel. "Well then…I guess that means I'll have to break my own record."

"YEAAAGH!" Don Marquin lunged. The instant she saw him tense for the spring, she cracked open the barrel and pulled out the spent shells. He sailed through the air, and she pulled new shells out of her pocket. He descended towards her, and she moved the shells towards the barrels. His lips peeled back in anticipation and he reached towards her throat, claws splayed.

Something rushed in from the side and rammed Don Marquin away with enough force to knock the wind out of him. Roxi staggered back a step, surprised by both the sight of Goldheart wrestling with the werewolf and that her throat remained intact. In all the months he'd lived at the cabin, Roxi had never heard the fyrhund snarl, or growl, whine, or whimper, yet now he voiced his rage, going berserk after seeing the attempted attack.

Don Marquin didn't know what to think about the creature. He'd seen it once before while the three women were conversing on the porch, and it forced his hand when it detected his presence close to the cabin. Now all its' fury was bent towards him, just as determined to protect the woman as he was to exact his vengeance. Its' jaws snapped at his shoulders, neck, and back as the two danced around each other. Standing on its' hind legs, it easily towered over him, but he had the advantage in reach and flexibility…

"ROXI!" The shout startled Roxi to awareness and she saw Shannon and Britania stop beside her. "Hurry up and shoot! I don't know how long Goldie can handle him!" Roxi glanced dumbly from her rifle to the wrestling beasts. Goldheart sank his teeth into the back of Don Marquin's neck and jerked his head from side to side, and the werewolf raked his claws through the red fur. Roxi fumbled with the barrel, and it seemed to take forever to do something she'd practiced to less than a second. Her hands shook as she slid the shells into the chambers.

No sooner did she close the barrel did they hear the most terrible piercing whine ever. The three women looked up and watched in horror as Don Marquin hefted Goldheart high over his head and hurled him against a tree. The fyrhund rebounded off and fell to the ground with a dull thud, limp and defeated. Don Marquin hadn't escaped unscathed and bled from over a dozen bite marks all over his upper body. He swayed from side to side and slowly turned around.

Sizzling hot silver pelted him in the left shoulder, forcing him to stagger back a step. "DIE!" Roxi screamed and shot him again, this time in the right shoulder. "DIE!" She shot erratically and pulled out spent shells and reloaded quickly. "GO AWAY AND LEAVE US ALONE!" Don Marquin tottered from side to side and took a step towards her, apparently hoping to make one last swipe at the woman's throat or at the very least curse her with his final act. "You want to be with your family so bad, THEN JOIN THEM!" Roxi steadied herself long enough to aim right between the eyes and pulled the trigger.

The blast sent the werewolf's smoking body flying back, and only a smoldering mass of flesh and fur landed on the ground before burning away entirely. Roxi lowered the Sharps and took deep, shuddering breaths, at once blessedly relieved and utterly exhausted.

"It's okay! It's okay Goldie! You're going to be allright…" Britania whimpered from where she knelt next to the fallen fyrhund. He lay on his side, bleeding from a massive gouge in his belly, and his branched tail twitched slightly. Shannon held his head in her lap and stroked his shredded batwing-shaped ears. He blinked several times and whimpered softly.

"I dunno Brit…he's torn up pretty bad…" Shannon reached under her shirt and pulled out the Ronin Cross by its' chain. "I can try using the power of Halo…" She placed one hand on Goldheart's shoulder and clasped the other around the pendant. "…What's wrong? Why won't you work?" Britania glanced at her, concerned. "It's like Halo isn't even there! It's not responding! What? You healed a Ronin Warrior from the brink of death and now you won't even heal a dog!" Shannon screamed to no one in particular. She looked over her shoulder when she heard a metallic click and saw Roxi standing behind her reloading the Sharps. "ROXI! What the hell are you doing! How could you even think of something like that?"

"What? Shannon, there ain't much else we can do for him…" she said, her voice cracking despite her cold indifference.

"You don't know that! You can't say that! I'm not as skilled in using magic as Kayura! Maybe we can call her and-" Shannon began protesting.

"It's too late…He's already gone…" Brianna whined and slowly put a hand to her mouth. Sadly enough, Goldheart had stopped moving entirely. His eyes had closed, his ears hung down, and his tails lay over the ground, completely limp. Brianna curled forward and buried her face in the bloodied fur, heaving with sobs and wailing loudly. Tears ran down Shannon's cheeks but she swallowed her grief. As accustomed as doctors were to mortality, no one liked to lose a patient… Roxi stood there silent and numb with the Sharps cradled in her arms.

_*The Thangiens say 'there is Beauty in the Battlefield'. They cherish and revere the very act of fighting to protect and defend those they love. But their most celebrated heroes aren't the ones who lead armies, or strike down the evil monster…they're the ones who die doing it.*_

* * *

Roxi walked out onto the porch and lugged the skeet launcher out to shoot some rounds, brushing strands of her newly dyed hair out of her face when she stood up. She glanced off to the side at the wooden cross that marked where they'd buried the fyrhund. As always the ground remained undisturbed since, for Roxi had been quick to shoot any wild scavengers that dared attempt to desecrate the site. No more than a week had passed but a day didn't go by where part of her expected him to come loping out from the forest, wagging his nine-branched tail and raising his ears like wings. She felt her throat harden and swallowed.

"Dumb dog…" she muttered to herself softly and began warming up the launcher. The machine chugged and sputtered to life and Roxi loaded her rifle. She paused when she heard a faint rustle and whirled to the side, not taking any chances. Something disturbed the bushes violently, and she wondered if some other 'family member' sought vengeance. To her knowledge all were confirmed dead, with six killed by the Incarnations and one other in Arizona…

Branches shook as something charged in her direction from the brush. Roxi raised her rifle and took aim. Her eyes widened and she lowered the rifle when she saw what emerged from the forest. "Whoa! Whoa, hey there!" Roxi exclaimed when the biggest, most beautiful Labrador Retriever she'd ever seen ran up to her and placed his forepaws on her thighs. "Where'd you come from?" The dog wagged his tail ecstatically. "Are you lost? Do you belong to someone?" Roxi leaned down and stroked the dog's neck. He snuffled all over her face and licked her chin. "You got no collar…but you're much too pretty to not belong to someone… BRIT! BRIT! Wake up! Can you call the shelter? We got a stray here. Probably from down the slope-"

"AH RAH ROO!" the Labrador bayed. Roxi looked back at the dog, bewildered.

"…What did you say?"

"AH RAH ROO!" he bayed once more. Roxi narrowed her eyes and knelt down to examine the dog's chest. She noticed a peculiar patch of white fur between his arms.

"…Goldie?" she whispered. The previously rambunctious Labrador fell silent and became still. The two looked each other in the eyes. Roxi's mouth moved as words failed to leave her mouth. Nothing could properly describe the confusion, joy, and wonder she felt then.

Ever since that day no one questioned or doubted her belief that the dog was somehow Goldheart returned. Whether they believed it themselves or kept any comments to themselves out of consideration, they treated him no differently. But Roxi never ever told anyone of the voice she heard speak to her in her mind, like that of a soothing breeze and the deep rumble of thunder.

*_May this one protect you and your friends…-**all the years of his new life**-_.* Nor did she take notice of the tall figure wearing a leather vest over a white shirt with leather pants tucked into high black boots standing in the trees. Blood-red hair flowed down the figure's back and lips spread in a smile and eyes with black irises and glowing orange pupils watched the two approvingly.

* * *

"Look for a rock formation in the mountains…what kind of cock-a-maimey direction is that? The mountains *_are_* a friggin' rock formation!" Black Hawk grumbled as she flew over snow-capped peaks and climbing forest. All of a sudden something whizzed past her head. "What the hell-!" She came to a stop and looked down towards the ground and spotted an elderly man.

The man had gone out that morning expecting to shoot some wild game. He thought he caught sight of a very large and peculiar bird and had attempted to shoot it for study. He pulled out a pair of binoculars and focused on the distant shape. He had barely enough time to register shock upon seeing a feminine shape supported by a large pair of black wings before something narrow and black pierced the center of the binoculars with ease.

"Jerk!" Black Hawk growled and turned to leave but paused when she noticed something further up the slope. She wheeled around to get a better angle then flapped her wings, ascending to get a wider view. Her eyes made out the rough shape of a long body that tapered at the top and bottom and two wide swaths to either side in the face of the mountain. It roughly resembled a reptilian body with a long neck and wedge-shaped head, long tail, and wide wings. No vegetation grew amid the rock, and anything along the edge grew stunted and withered.

"Bingo…Mother will be happy when I tell her I found him...the Shadow of Sorrow…Scourge of Spain…" she grinned and chuckled triumphantly.


	9. Betrayed

Betrayed

By Mardrena

"Maaan…I've seen bigger waves in a bathtub," Kento grumbled and stared at his reflection in the water. He lay stretched out on a brightly-colored surfboard and rest his cheek against his arm.

"Well, we can't be choosy about what days we take off, and that's the purpose behind this little outing: to relax," Cye shrugged and sat up on his board, turning his attention to the third person sitting out in the water with them. "Tanya…I don't mean to pry, but why did you go for a full-body suit? Doc said you were fit for action, and there couldn't have been much scarring left from the accident," he queried softly. The Lady Ronin didn't reply and kept her attention towards the beach. She wore a black diving suit with pink piping designs on the chest and legs.

"Yeah, why don't you show off those pretty legs of yours?" Kento teased. Tanya stiffened and slowly looked over her shoulder, looking very feather-ruffled. "Uhh-I didn't mean that in a-" Cye reached to the side and slapped his friend upside the head. Tanya didn't seem interested in meting out her own punishment and returned her gaze to the beach.

"Hey Cye. You see Ryo over there?" Cye paused in cuffing Kento a second time and looked at the direction indicated by Tanya. He spotted the Ronin Leader sitting alone on the beach.

"What about him?" Cye asked. Ryo seemed to be staring at something almost wistfully.

"He looks mopey. I can't stand it when he looks mopey. It really bugs the hell outta me. I wanna do something to snap him out of it…I think you have an idea of what I got in mind?"

"Oh, I think I do, in fact," Cye grinned mischievously and dipped his hand into the water and started swishing in a circle gently. Ripples coursed out past all three boards.

"OOOH! This is going to be fun!" Kento gripped his board as the water started churning.

"RRAAAAGH!" Cale let out a throaty roar and sprang into the air, intercepting the white ball and swatting it back over the net.

"Gyaaah!" Roxi barely managed to react and dove forward, using her wrists to rebound the ball back up before it hit the sand.

"Eeek!" Kayura overshot and instead of catching the ball with her wrists, it bounced off her hip. It sailed over the net, just shy of grazing it, and Mia leapt up and swatted it back.

"Not so fast!" Anubis shouted and sent the ball hurtling with enough force to nearly burst its seams. Britania squeaked when she missed and looked over her shoulder. Rowen and Sage lunged forward simultaneously in a last ditch effort. Sand flew up in waves as they face-planted spectacularly, and when the tumult settled and they peeled their faces up from the indentions made by their impact, they saw the stitched white ball sitting calmly before them.

"We triumph once more!" Sehkmet crowed and hi-fived Dais.

"You wanna go best 3 of 5?" the white-haired Elder Ronin queried.

"Fine…after a break," Rowen grumbled as he dusted himself off.

"Geez Sehk, do you not tan?" Sage remarked and flicked sand out of his hair.

"What? Jealous of my pearly complexion?" Sehkmet grinned and struck a pose.

"Pasty's more like it…"

"I'm pleased to see you retain your combat prowess," Anubis complemented as he retrieved the ball and walked over to Kayura. "You saved us with your special...'technique'," he chuckled and bumped Kayura with his hip. Kayura blushed and giggled.

"Hey, you two wanna get a room?" Rowen snickered. Anubis glared at him and with a flick of both wrists flung the ball towards Rowen's face. Instead of being flung back by the net, the ball pulled the net with it and struck with a soft thud before finally recoiling and bouncing back into Anubis' hands. Anubis turned to Kayura and smiled cheerfully.

"How come Shannon didn't show up? Didn't you tell her about today?" Sage asked.

"We did, but I guess she had to pull extra hours at the hospital or something. You tried calling her?" Roxi asked as she dribbled some water from a bottle over her orange hair to cool off.

"She isn't answering. You may be right and she's too busy…"

Mia took a long swig out of a water bottle she'd retrieved from the cooler they brought. Except for a few scattered couples and families further down the shore, they had the beach mostly to themselves, allowing them to enjoy a sunny morning without the overcrowding of a busy summer day. Mia screwed the cap back and glanced to the side. She frowned when she saw Ryo sitting on a beach towel. All morning he'd sat there staring in their direction. Unlike the others, who wore colorful swim trunks, he wore loose faded pants and a white T-shirt.

"Don't start the match just yet, guys," Mia said to Rowen and walked away from the net. "Michelle!" The Arizona girl looked over her shoulder from where let the tide roll over her legs before receding. "You want to take my place in the next match? I'm going to go sit with Ryo…"

"Sure!" Michelle sprang to her feet and eagerly jogged over to the net. Anubis finished joking with the others and turned to face the net but cheer quickly turned to dismay when he saw Michelle take a position on the opposing side. The other Elders moaned in protest.

"Oh great, now we're gonna lose because his honor precludes him from fighting his own daughter," Sehkmet complained.

"No it doesn't!" Anubis squawked, but still looked worried.

"You've been here all morning. This was your idea to come out and have some fun, so why are you the only one not having any?" Mia asked as she walked up to Ryo. Ryo glanced at her then back at the third match now in progress. Mia sat down beside him on the towel.

"It wasn't that long ago they were all at each other's throats. Now look at them. It kinda makes you wonder…if there's hope for someone like…" Ryo frowned and went quiet.

"Someone like who?" Mia inquired softly.

"Nah…I'm just thinking…"

"You're not supposed to spend a beautiful morning like this worrying."

"What? I can be deep and contemplative when I choose."

"I'm certain you can, but it's very unlike you."

"Well…maybe you don't know me as well as you thought?"

"Oh…I'd like to think I know you quite well by now…" Neither of them seemed to have noticed how close they were, with their faces only a few inches apart.

"LOOK OUT BELOW!" "SURF'S UP!" "ROCK N'ROLL!"

Ryo and Mia looked up in time to see a towering wave rolling towards them with Tanya, Cye, and Kento riding the crest. "AAAUUUUUGH!" they screamed together in horror and Ryo wrapped his arms around Mia and pulled her close to shield her as the wave broke upon the shore and swept over them. The water receded after depositing the two a few feet further inland. Mia sputtered and gasped and peeled wet hair away from her face.

"Sorry about that, Mia! Didn't see you there!" Cye called from where he sat on his board.

"Oh I'll bet!" Ryo growled and turned his attention to Mia. "You okay?"

"I'm fine…a bit soaked…" Mia tugged at the edges of her bathing suit and wet sand dribbled out from where the tide left deposits.

"Here, you got a little…passenger up there…" Ryo picked up a small crab that had its claws entangled in Mia's hair and tossed it away. Tanya watched them carefully as they kept their attention on each other and nothing else, not even the pair of flailing legs poking up out of the sand several feet away. Ryo spoke apologetically and Mia shook her head, assuring him that she was allright. Arms eventually wormed their way to the surface beside the legs and braced against the sand, and after much shoving, Kento pulled his way free and started shaking sand out of his hair and ears. Ryo and Mia didn't even glance in his direction and Ryo offered a hand to help Mia stand. Tanya hummed to herself in concern then looked towards Cye.

"Whoa, Cye, cheese the waterworks before someone notices."

"What are you talking about?" Tanya pointed towards the bay and Cye looked over his shoulder and saw a churning, glowing whirlpool. "…That isn't me."

The fifth finished with the younger Ronin victorious. Rowen noticed the swirling phenomenon and glanced at Anubis and Sage, who apparently saw it as well.

"Hey guys, me and Brit are gonna go ahead and take off. We've been gone long enough and Goldie might get stir-crazy," Roxi announced suddenly.

"Huh? Oh, okay. I'll call when we get home, we're gonna stay a bit longer to check something out," Rowen answered, grateful that saved him from having to explain the disturbance.

"Is this an attack from the Dynasty?" Michelle whispered to Anubis.

"There's no way to be sure…" Anubis replied and glanced down the beach. While Roxi and Britania remained thankfully ignorant of the disturbance as they drove away, other people took notice and watched the spectacle in awe. "We must get these civilians out of here. They're putting themselves at risk lingering like this."

All of a sudden, a massive C'thulian horror erupted from the bay and leered at observers menacingly with multiple sets of eyes. Spined tentacles thrashed about and three mouths roared in different pitches. The sight was enough to send people fleeing to their cars, not stopping to pick up any of their belongings. Within a minute, only scattered towels, beach balls, coolers, and radios remained on the sand. Then, as quickly as it had appeared, the beast faded out of view.

"You could've…I dunno…concealed the disturbance itself," Rowen grumbled.

"Eh, this takes less energy," Dais shrugged lazily.

"Mia, I want you to go with Michelle and Kayura and wait at the estate while we go check this out," Ryo ordered and summoned his White Dragon sub-armor.

"Ryo, I really wish you'd stop dismissing me just like that. You know I'm not afraid of putting myself in harm's way," Mia complained.

"Well I am!" Ryo snapped suddenly and unfurled the leathery dragon wings. Mia flinched slightly and watched quietly as Ryo spread the wings, dragging the tips through the sand. He raised his arms then swept them down powerfully. It took quite a bit of effort to achieve proper lift, but he gradually rose into the air. "Let us handle this. Get to safety," Ryo said and flew out over the water. Rowen joined him soon after, wearing Eagle sub-armor. Mia lingered by the shore and watched as Kento and Tanya took to the water on their boards. Foam Reaver and Iguadalupen served to ferry their masters and the Elders through the waves.

"Hey Cye! How can I be sure this overgrown fish of yours isn't going to eat us?" Sehkmet shouted as he and Dais clung to the fins of the Torrent Incarnation.

"For the same reason sharks avoid certain types of fish: because they're poisonous."

"Oh, hah hah!"

"Keep a safe distance everyone. There's no telling what'll come out of there," Rowen warned and the group maintained their position in the water. Rowen cocked his head to one side and frowned. "There's a sound…I'm not quite sure what it is…"

Ryo had to keep flapping his arms up and around to stay aloft. He raised an eyebrow and looked down when he noticed movement. "Hey, stay back guys! I didn't say move forward!"

"We're not! It's…it's pulling us in!" Sage shouted. The whirlpool, which had previously spanned the size of a small house, almost doubled in size in an instant.

"Foam Reaver! Put it in full reverse!" Cye ordered. Both Shark and Iguana lashed their tails furiously, fighting the current. Tanya paddled swiftly while Kento wind-milled his arms like a steamboat. Even in the air, Ryo and Rowen could feel wind trying to drag them in.

"Armor up! Port out! Quick!" Ryo shouted, but the whirlpool sank down and expanded once more, catching those in the water in the event horizon. "NO!" Ryo flapped his wings to no avail as a powerful force sucked him and Rowen into the disturbance, along with the other Ronin.

* * *

A single colossal funnel cloud writhed within a wide valley. Suddenly it spat out several small flailing figures onto massive dunes. The sand cushioned their fall, but the newcomers didn't know what to make of the sudden shift from ocean water to simmering sand.

"Ugh…is everyone okay?" Ryo groaned and scraped wet sand off his cheek and shook his hair. Several dazed moans answered him and a quick headcount showed everyone present.

"AAGH! What *_landed_* on me, a *_cow_*?" Tanya squawked angrily.

Kento waited a few moments to let the ringing in his ears subside, as everything sounded muffled. He wondered why his back hurt since he apparently landed on something bony and squishy instead of soft sand. He looked over his shoulder idly and saw Tanya glaring up at him over her shoulder and growling angrily. "Eeep!" Kento hastily rolled to the side and backed away. Fortunately for him the impact had weakened her so much she lacked the strength to throttle him right away. She staggered to her feet shakily and Cye walked over to help her stand.

"Wow…where are we?" Rowen studied the valley rim. Ryo looked up at the sandy vortex.

"Well…I can tell you where we're not." Rowen looked up as well and saw what caught Ryo's attention. Swirling sand composed the main body of the vortex, but its crown in the sky shimmered like the surface of water, and even distant shorelines and buildings from the city could be seen through the event horizon. "Yeah, that's not something you see every day."

"I think we squished your lizard…" Cale commented as he and Dais scooted away from an inert Iguadalupen, who gurgled in complaint.

"Sorry about the rough landing. Go ahead and rest it off," Sage apologized and withdrew the Incarnation into his ring.

"At least Foam Reaver had the sense to submerge when we landed…" Cye commented. Anubis and Sehkmet grumbled bitterly as they'd just recently hauled themselves out of the sand.

"There's that sound again…only louder. What the heck is it?" Rowen looked up the slope and cocked his head. "It sounds like…"

"Battle," Anubis stated and clambered towards the rim and surveyed the environment. The dry desert of the valley extended well past it to all directions, broken only by a few distant rocky hills. The others joined him at the top, but almost fell back into the valley when something massive swept overhead. A thunderous bellowing roar assailed their ears and a powerful gust of wind drove sand into their faces. Ryo managed to shield his face with his wings, and while the others sputtered in complaint, he looked up to see the source of the sounds.

Glittering bronze scales coated a colossal reptilian body, and occasionally what looked like sparks of electricity flew off into the air. Massive spined wings flapped through the air as the dragon titan hovered over a shifting dark mass on the horizon. Tiny specks flew up into the air as it swept its' fore arms and tail through the mass. Long, thin spines ran the course of its' neck to the base of its' tail, and several horns varying in lengths and thicknesses poked out from the back of its' head like a crown. Two huge sloping tusks curled out from the back of its' jaw with the points extending far enough to nearly touch the tip of its' mouth. The dragon opened its' mouth and electricity coursed from its' mouth onto the tusks. It let loose a blast of energy at the mass, breathing thunder and roaring lighting.

"Is that…a Norwegian thunder-wyrm?" Anubis muttered.

"…That's kind of big for a worm," Kento blinked and frowned.

"Not worm, *_wyrm_*," Anubis corrected. Kento still looked confused over the different pronunciation. "They gave rise to the belief that storms were caused by dragons cavorting in the heavens…what could it be doing here?"

"Probably got sucked in like we did and he's been trapped here since…" Rowen paused when he heard a faint moan. He looked down and saw a light-armored figure crawling over the sand towards the vortex valley. A long trail extending far behind him indicated he'd dragged himself over the smoldering expanse for quite some time. He bled from several wounds on his face and hands. He looked up weakly and saw the Ronin standing there and shakily raised one hand.

"P-P-Please…help…us…" the man rasped. Ryo nearly took a step forward to aid him but the thunder-wyrm soared overhead again, much closer to the ground this time. Electricity arced off and struck the injured man directly. Ryo heard him scream in pain but by the time he dared move forward again, the man had already expired. He looked up at the dark mass again and realized the distant specks were bodies being tossed into the air from the thunder-wyrm's attacks.

"Those are people out there…What are we gonna do?" Rowen asked.

"Should we intervene being strangers in this realm?" Anubis added.

"We're sworn to protect mankind no matter what. RONIN TO ARMS!"

Ballista bolts and arrows flew at the dragon's belly, but a single flap from its' wings drove the missiles off course. It plunged a fist into the ground and swept its' arm to the side, uprooting siege machines and scattering troops. It roared again in rage before ascending for another dive.

"HEY! DRAGON!" The dragon grunted upon hearing a distant cry and looked towards the vortex valley. "Why don't you pick on someone your own power level!" A red and silver armored man challenged. Nine others wearing different-colored armor accompanied him.

*"_Outsiders? Here? You shouldn't be here! LEAVE THIS PLACE!'_* A voice echoed through the air even though the dragon did nothing more than open and shut its' jaws. It flapped its' wings, driving sand against them once more. Their armor protected them this time.

"Well he's clearly not friendly," Ryo commented.

"Let's turn his lights off before he does the same to those men. Everyone knows what happens when you add water to electricity!" Cye began powering up his attack.

"You suppose the heat of this infernal desert contributes to his ill temperament? Maybe the cold of dark will change that," Cale moved to contribute his own power.

"This'll take the wind out of his sails for sure!" Tanya joined her swords and began twirling them. The dragon ignored them for now and turned towards the army again.

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

"BLACK LIGHTING SLASH!"

"TYPHOON BLAST!"

"RAKING RIME CLAW!" The three attacks merged together into a single focused attack that swept towards the dragon. The dragon idly looked over its' shoulder in time to see swirling shadow, water, and wind driving towards it like a fist. The attack struck and the dragon's skin seemed to explode with violent discharges of energy. Fog swirled in the air, completely concealing the dragon until the hot sun boiled it away, revealing the dragon. It lingered in the air and let out a rattling sigh as it slowly sagged towards the ground. Weak tendrils of energy flickered from its' scales as it crashed into the desert, sending sand up in waves.

_*"FOOLS!"*_ The dragon, somehow surviving the attack, heaved itself to all fours and struggled to flap its wings. _*"YOU KNOW NOT WHAT YOU DO!"*_ it screamed almost sadly then floundered into the air and flew over the hills. The Ronin cheered amongst themselves in celebration but paused when they heard muffled hoof-beats approaching. A small company of mounted men in armor approached. One of them carried a dust-battered banner. The foremost one took off his helmet and dismounted and walked towards the Ronin.

"Strangers! You have our sincerest thanks! The energy-dragon would have surely ended us all if not for your intervention!" the man bowed deeply then stood back up, regarding the Ronin with bluish-grey eyes. He looked to be of European descent. "I am High General Kavan. My men and I have attempted to ward off the energy-dragon for some time, and you beat him back with such power. I must ask of you: from where do you hail?"

"Well, we're not from around here, obviously," Ryo began and looked over his shoulder up at the vortex and the image of Toyama. "We got sucked in through that from the other side. You know how we can get back?" Kavan looked up at the crown of the vortex and frowned.

"You came…from the other side? Interesting…" Kavan narrowed his eyes, pausing for a few moments, then blinked and shook his head. "Ah, where are my manners! Here, I must bring you before King Teirhan. He would want to thank such mighty heroes in person."

"So he can help us?" Rowen asked. Kavan replaced his helmet and called his mount over.

"Yes, I believe he will help you," he began then mounted up. "As you have helped him…"

* * *

"Ahh! Kavan! When I received the missive, I could scarcely believe! Now I see for myself the mighty heroes you spoke of! Please, enter!" a melodious voice called from the other side of the expansive room. The Ronin entered and glanced about the opulent throne room. Guards stood in rows on either side of the carpet and held lances straight and stood proudly. The Ronin continued walking and came to a stop at the end of the carpet, where a section of patterned tiles separated the carpet from the throne itself. Seated upon gilded wood sat a thin man with a shaved head adorned with a jeweled crown. He wore flowing fur robes and looked very much like a stereotypical fantasy monarch. "I welcome you to my domain, brave heroes! I am King Teirhan, and you have the gratitude of myself and my subjects for vanquishing the dragon!"

"I dunno about 'vanquishing', but we definitely sent it packing," Ryo commented.

Kavan took off his helmet and walked over to Teirhan. "They call themselves 'Ronin Warriors'," he said aloud, then lowered his voice. "They come from the Other Side…"

"I see…Well while our gratitude carries value beyond material wealth, please allow us to express it by bestowing these special tokens upon your company!" Teirhan clapped. Several servants came out from behind the standing guards and carried glittering items atop cushions.

"Oh, thanks your Majesty," Ryo said and accepted his trinket: a jeweled bracer, and bowed slightly. Rowen, Kento, Sage, Cye, and even Tanya accepted their gifts, returning the thanks. When a servant approached Anubis, the veteran warrior shook his head and waved a hand.

"I appreciate the gesture, but gratitude alone is sufficient reward for me. I decline."

The servant's eyes bugged out and he bit his lip. "But, I must insist, on behalf of King Teirhan," he said and raised the cushion slightly. Anubis shook his head once more and folded his arms over his chest, waving with his hand from under his arm.

"Such baubles are wasted on us. The younger Ronin may feel need to flaunt their successes, but us Elders find reward in battle." The servant looked quite distressed and fidgeted in place.

"Yes, but, I insist you accept-" Anubis' eyes narrowed and he snapped his head to the side, fixing his glare on the simpering servant. The servant's breath caught in his throat and he gulped.

"I –**said**-…I –**decline**-," Anubis growled through clenched teeth. The servant nodded shakily then backed off. Anubis turned his gaze to the front and scowled. Good intentions or not, the man's pestering had absolutely brought out the Warlord in him… Anubis glanced to the side where servants offered bracelets to the other Elders. Dais and Cale similarly refused their rewards, and all it took was a casual glance from Sehkmet to send his would-be gift fleeing. Anubis glanced to the front again and saw a frown flicker across Teirhan's jovial face.

Centuries of honed instincts kicked in and Anubis began studying beyond the surface. His gaze roved around the room, and behind all the pomp and circumstance the guards provided he saw dingy stone walls. The tapestries he now noticed, for all their intricacy, were dusty and worn. Other servants lingered in the shadows at the far walls of the throne room, but were not dressed as grandly as those that presented the bracers. In fact, these servants huddled meekly and looked almost frightened. Anubis' gaze flicked back to the King, and he saw displeasure directed towards the four Elders. Anubis frowned and glanced to the side at Dais, who nodded.

_*Good, he sees it too…*_ While honeyed words poured out of Teirhan's mouth as he inquired about what the Ronin's home looked like and how was it like living there, Anubis made an effort to gain Ryo's attention. "Ryo, we should take leave of this place," he whispered as Ryo clasped the bracelet around his wrist as did the other younger Ronin. Tanya examined her bracelet. As coarse as she tended to be, even the Lady Ronin liked nice things.

"What? Anubis, they're only trying to thank us," Ryo answered over his shoulder and glanced back forward. Anubis frowned in worry and noticed guards tensing.

"Ryo, we need to go; *_now_*!" Anubis hissed. Ryo glanced at him again, this time sensing the urgency in the Ronin's voice. He glanced at Teirhan then back at Anubis and slowly nodded.

"Uhh, Majesty? We don't mean to sound ungrateful for you being grateful, but we gotta jet. We really should be getting back home," Ryo jerked a thumb backwards, referring to the vortex.

The King started laughing, but not merrily. "Hah hah hah…you won't be going anywhere! Guards, seize them!" he cried. Dais thrust his extensor blades through the rich carpet and sent web streams against the guards, casting them against the walls and sending servants fleeing.

"We're out of here! Cluster up, we'll port out!" Ryo ordered, and the younger and Elders obeyed. Anubis placed one hand on Ryo's shoulder and held his weapon in the other, keeping an eye out for any reinforcements. Thus far Teirhan seemed content to sit on his throne, grinning at them maniacally. Anubis frowned when he didn't see the teleport rings forming.

"Ryo, why aren't we going anywhere?" he demanded. The Ronin Leader shuddered slightly.

"I…can't….move!" he croaked. The other younger Ronin likewise seem afflicted. Then Anubis noticed the jeweled bracers pulsing softly.

"TREACHERY! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS" he howled and lunged towards the King. Teirhan only cackled as the four Elders charged towards him, passing over the tiled floor.

Light erupted from the tiles and consumed the Elders, and they cried in protest as they seemed to be erased from existence.

"ANUBIS! NO!" Ryo cried but literally couldn't move an inch.

"What did you do to them!" Sage demanded. Tanya began vehemently spewing various vulgarities with her usual passion, but Kento suddenly cuffed her upside the head.

"That wasn't me!" he exclaimed, looking genuinely surprised.

"Why you-!" Tanya moved as if to turn and punch him, but her fist froze mid-strike. "…What the f-" she strained to push forward, but aside from shuddering, her arm didn't move.

"Now now now, I can't have dissension in the ranks," Teirhan said and held up a jeweled rod.

"You stinking, cheating, skunk-sucking son of a-" before Tanya could add anything unsavory, Cye lashed out and slapped her.

"I didn't do that!" he squawked, blushing from embarrassment. Tanya growled angrily but squeaked when the same force that kept them frozen in place now forced them to kneel. Ryo struggled against the compulsion, but eventually sank to his knees and drew one knee up and rest his arm across it. Teirhan seemed to react oddly to this and smiled.

"Your friends were cunning enough to refuse my 'gifts', so I had them banished into the vortex where they'll remain forever bound by the winds. Without the miraculous gift of flight, they will never escape. Kavan, however, informs me that wouldn't be a problem for some among you…" the King's glance flicked to Rowen, who scowled. "Thus far energy-dragon has eluded capture, but with your matchless power, my dreams of conquest will be fulfilled!"

"The dragon…he wasn't attacking you, he was trying to keep you away from the vortex!"

"Exactly. For centuries, my ancestors gazed upon the tantalizing glimpses the vortex showed and longed to return to their rightful home, but at all times, the dragon opposed us. Now, we will reclaim our birthright!" Teirhan held out his free hand, shrugging his sleeve away from his wrist. Firelight from braziers glinted off a large engraved ring. "After, of course, you pledge loyalty…"

"Ronin Warriors have no masters!" Sage shouted. Teirhan raised the rod and Sage moved his arms suddenly, holding his wrists close to his chin with his fingers pointing downward.

"As long as you wear the Bands of Compelling, you will serve me as faithfully as a *_dog_*!" Teirhan snapped. Sage growled angrily and his face flushed red with humiliation. Teirhan pointed the jeweled rod at Ryo. "Come hither." Ryo rose shakily and stepped forward. "Come come!" Teirhan said once more and fluttered his hand. Ryo braced himself and struggled furiously to fight the enchantment forcing him forward. Teirhan raised an eyebrow at this and grinned toothily. "Ahh, you've got quite the strong will, but it will not avail you…come now."

Ryo somehow knew, in the back of his mind, what the King wanted him to do, and he fought with all his strength not to scoot forward inch by inch, but despite his efforts he found himself standing before Teirhan and kneeling slowly. His struggle seemed to amuse the delusional dictator, and finally Ryo's hand moved up and closed about the King's extended hand. Ryo leaned down, and his lips touched the golden signet ring.

The bindings allowed Ryo to stand, and never before did Ryo feel or express such rage. Teirhan sat in his throne confident Ryo would not lunge forward and bury his armor-plated fist in his face. "Kavan! Take our new 'guests' to their accommodations, and summon all the remaining able-bodied men. In mere hours, we will set forth once more!"

"Yes, milord. Follow me, Ronin Warriors," Kavan said mockingly, and they noticed he carried a smaller rod similar to the one Teirhan wielded. The Ronin followed Kavan to damp stone cells reminiscent of something from the old Dynasty. "I've chosen to allow you to remain together as a gesture of good will," Kavan smirked and opened the gate to a cell.

"Oh I got a gesture for you right here!" Tanya managed to flip him off, but not without suffering another slap to the side of the head, this time from Ryo.

"Sorry…" he muttered sheepishly and entered the cell. Kavan closed the gate then left.

"Talk about being too good to be true. We shoulda seen this coming!" Rowen regretted.

"The Elders did, but King Tyrant got rid of them fast," Cye grumbled.

"The magic on these bindings is strong if it can restrain the power of the Armors…its probably older by far," Sage remarked and studied his bracelet, able to move freely now. "Makes you wonder how someone as backwards as Teirhan got his scrawny hands on it…"

"Even without those jerks close by, we can't do anything. Watch, it won't even let me grab it," Kento stated and tried to remove the bracelet. His hand froze just short of touching it, and no matter how hard Kento strained, his arm would not move. "See? I can't even tear these bars out." To prove his point, he grabbed the iron bars and tried pulling to no avail.

"Probably some sort of self-preservation enchantment to keep us from harming it or escaping. What are we going to do, Ryo?" Sage asked. Ryo stared ahead from where he sat by the wall.

"For now, nothing." The other Ronin muttered in disagreement. "All we can do is bide our time." Sage wanted to press the issue but held back when he saw Ryo's eyes. Much like a volcano, rage simmered inside, and volcanoes were always quietest before erupting violently.

* * *

Four armored figures shouted and thrashed about fruitlessly within the swirling walls of the vortex. "What blasted sorcery is this! I can't even shadow-jump!" Cale cursed.

"The centrifugal force of the winds is keeping us bound! We can't do anything!" Anubis shouted. He alone of the four didn't wear his helmet, and he had to keep his eyes closed.

"I hope…this teaches you…to wear your helmet…more often!" Dais barked. Anubis shouted various archaic expletives but the roar of the sands drowned out most of them.

"ANUBIS!" Anubis tilted his head up when he heard a voice call his name accompanied by a curious bubbly whistle. He dared open one eye a crack but it was enough to see a metallic white form breach the vortex wall. The invisible air shield parted the swirling sand and enveloped Anubis, enabling him to grab the outstretched hand as well as loosen his weapon chain and let it trail out through the vortex. It wrapped around the waists of the other Elders and the white form peeled away, drawing them out. The sudden weight of three heavily armored bodies forced Anubis to let go of his rescuer and the four Elders face-planted into ground once again. Anubis hauled himself to his feet and shook his hair free of sand. The winged metallic form alighted on the ground nearby and its' rider and another passenger dismounted. "You guys allright?"

"Yulie? What are you doing here?" Anubis asked, surprised not only by the boy's presence in the realm, but also by the curious white leather and metal armor he appeared to be wearing.

"Mia called me when she saw you all get sucked in, so she asked us to try and find you."

"You have our sincerest gratitude for executing such a risky feat." Suddenly White Wind erupted into a series of angry squeals and hoof stomping. "…I gather he's pissed."

"Well, yeah. You'd be too if you had to carry Whiteblaze AND Blackblaze." Whiteblaze padded over to Cale and sniffed at his helmet crest then grabbed the crest with his mouth and pulled up, peeling the Ronin's face out of the sand. "It didn't help that he kept calling White Wind a flying metal mule, either…"

"Blackblaze? Where is he?" Anubis turned around.

"Dunno. He insisted on coming and took off just after we landed."

"How the hell did you know where to find us, kid?" Sehkmet asked as he dusted himself off. Yulie turned to the side and pointed in a direction.

"He told me." The Elders looked up and their jaws dropped when they saw the very same dragon titan they'd driven off earlier. He stood on all fours with wings folded at his sides and tail lying across the sand. "He says his name's Vaughisdrough and he came here from Earth centuries ago. He also says there used to be dragons everywhere in the world. Is that true?"

"…Yes…there were," Anubis said, at last overcoming his shock. "Long before even I was born, dragons were once as common-place as elephants or whales..."

_*"Your red-armored friend is quite the impulsive one, otherwise I could have explained to him that the humans were the aggressors, not I,"*_ Vaughisdrough rumbled, broadcasting his booming voice through the air and moving his jaws open and shut.

"Well…that's Ryo for you," Cale said sheepishly.

"What's the story with Teirhan and his people?" Dais asked.

_*"Ages ago as my kind dwindled in your world, I fled those hunting me for sport and entered this world by accident through the vortex. At first it seemed I had found a refuge from harm, but later men were drawn through the vortex. They seemed confused and lost, and in an effort to foster enlightenment in them, I took pity and taught them the secrets of rune-scribing and magical binding. I had hoped they would use such knowledge to improve their lives as their numbers increased and they began to settle the far regions of this world.*_

_*"Despite my best intentions, greed and ambition kindled in their hearts, and one by one the separate kingdoms went to war. Now only Teirhan's remains and he uses my rune-bindings to enslave! When I fought his recent assault as you arrived, his minions were attempting to affix such a binding to my person. Only a dragon or another capable of flight can navigate the vortex, and with me as his slave he would use me to ferry his troops into your world in preparation for conquest. Preposterous!"*_ Vaughisdrough ruffled his wings angrily.

"Why not simply depart yourself and leave them to wallow in their self-made misery?"

_*"My place in your world ceased to be long ago. Even if I could find sanctuary, I could not leave without amending my folly,"*_ Vaughisdrough shook his massive head sadly. _*"Typically the event-horizon of the vortex exists unseen in your world, and through the centuries I have observed the views from this side and seen many locales, so it changes from time to time. I suspect my energies agitated it when I was forced into such close proximity by Kavan's forces."*_

"So…it's *_your_* fault we got sucked in, because we were nowhere near the event-horizon at first," Anubis narrowed his eyes and folded his arms over his chest, as did the other Elders. Vaughisdrough's skin seemed to change hue and he averted his gaze.

_*"…If you wish to be technical…then yes. But, nonetheless, your arrival here could not have been mere coincidence. You must put an end to Teirhan's ambitions while I intercept your friends and do what I can to delay them. Know this,"*_ Vaughisdrough began as he turned around. "_You must destroy the control scepter to free your friends. I go now! Good luck, and bring swift end to that madman!"*_ With that, the dragon titan lumbered into the distance.

"Gladly…" Anubis growled and drew his weapon, the blade humming as it sliced through air.

* * *

"The time has come," Kavan stated as he unlocked the Ronin's cell and swung the gate open. He held the lesser rod in his hand and gestured to the stairs leading out of the dungeon. Kento exited first, followed by Rowen and Cye, then Sage and Tanya. Ryo came last, and he seemed to pause after exiting the cell, regarding Kavan with narrowed eyes.

The air whistled as his fist flew through the air only to halt less than an inch away from Kavan's nose. Ryo seethed but Kavan merely reached up with one hand and pushed Ryo's fist aside with his finger. "I would not recommend attempting that again. If I so chose to, I could order you to kill her." Ryo drew one sword suddenly and held it to Tanya's throat. Tanya gasped but couldn't even lean away as the sword came to a stop no more than a hairbreadth away from her skin. "And you would do it because I told you to." Ryo kept his gaze on Kavan.

"But, I will be magnanimous, and forgive this slight." Ryo sheathed his sword and Tanya clasped her hands around her neck, showing seldom-expressed fear. "I have need of her power, and I can find…*_other_* uses for her." The other Ronin bristled at that comment, and Tanya herself looked furious, but they did not act. They could not, as Kavan had demonstrated. "You shall ride ahead of the main columns as our vanguard, leading the way for a new age of glory!" The Ronin reluctantly mounted provided steeds and rode out across the desert towards the vortex valley. "With all resistance crushed, nothing will stop us!" The valley and the dimensional vortex loomed in the distance, and the skyline of Toyama shimmered in its crown.

Sage rode close to Kavan's left flank, and he flicked a glance at the High General. "You're obviously a smart guy to rise to such a high rank in Teirhan's court. Have you ever considered being able to do better for yourself?" Ryo heard this and frowned, uncertain. "I mean, think of it: you have six of the most powerful people in existence under your direct control, thousands of willing men at your disposal. Maybe you should be the one running the show?"

"Sage…" Ryo whispered under his breath.

"Say you send a small group back to the castle, pretend to report success, and-" Sage implied.

"I know what you attempt, Ronin Warrior, but it will not work," Kavan interrupted and turned towards Sage in the saddle. He raised his right arm and reached up with his left hand and pulled his chainmail sleeve down, revealing a thin jeweled band. "We *_all_* serve." Sage's eyes widened in shock. "Those who serve most faithfully are afforded the gift of freedom. You would do well to serve faithfully as well." Any and all hope of engineering an escape bled out of them. One had to wonder, if Teirhan himself was not a slave in some form…

* * *

The guards had no time to react as the doors burst open, flattening them against the walls. White Wind and Whiteblaze barreled into the soldiers responding to the commotion. Whiteblaze grabbed them one by one by their arms and flung them away, while White Wind used his eye beams to disarm them and pummeled them with his hooves. The Elder Ronin and Yulie came charging in from behind, breaching any minor resistance on their way to the throne room. Cale lashed out with his claws to deface any paintings or tapestries, and Sehkmet paused to deliver savage punches to the face of any nearby guards. Anubis let fly his kusari-gama into the chest of one of the guards by the inner doors, striking him in the breastplate with the blunted end.

"STOP right there…" King Teirhan barked as the enameled doors to the throne room splintered apart and the Elders and Yulie paused just after entering. "Dare not come one step closer. Even from afar, I still command the Ronin Warriors, and if I so choose to, I can instruct them to execute themselves!" Anubis scowled angrily. "Oh, don't think for a second I can't. For you to barge into MY throne room uninvited is such an affront, I may just do so anyway!" The other Elders sucked in their breath. "But…I may be persuaded to spare them, if you surrender yourselves to my dominion and equip the Bands of Compelling!"

Anubis drew himself up and held the sickle blade of his weapon pointed at the left side of his stomach. "I spent four-hundred thirty years serving one master; I'll die before I serve another."

"Anubis, no!" Yulie hissed in protest. Teirhan burst out laughing.

"Fools! You would rather kill yourselves than serve me? What would you gain? You would be dead! And your friends would still be my thralls. Clearly there is no choice…" Dais contemplated using his power to slip behind and dispatch the despot, but King Teirhan kept his thumb hovering over a particular inscribed gem. "Don't even think about attempting sorcery! The tiles you see on the floor will alert me to any attempt to harm, as well as banish those who dare try regardless. You may have escaped the vortex once, but I highly doubt you can do so again.

"You fail to understand the extent of my authority. The Ronin Warriors are mine! MIIIINE!" Teirhan shrieked with such force veins stuck out in his skinny neck. "You will serve ME, as all do, as all WILL!" Anubis found the depths of the man's depravity appalling, shameful even. *_Ahh, they resign themselves to their fates…*_ Teirhan thought to himself gleefully when he saw surprise and apprehension on the intruders' faces. "You will learn to wear my bindings proudly, and serve unquestionably my every will and whim! Nothing can-"

Pain both freezing hot and numbing cold surged through Teirhan's spine, and he pitched forward from a sudden blow. As he fell towards the tiled floor, drafts of air stung the four bloody gouges running down his back. He landed quite painfully on his chin, and the jeweled rod tumbled out of his grasp. Teirhan tried to push himself to his knees, or even move his arm and grasp the rod once more, but his fingers barely twitched in response to his commands. He tried inching his hand toward the rod, pulling his arm along the floor with his fingertips.

A large black furry foot came crashing down upon the rod with such force the gem-encrusted metal splintered, spraying fragments onto Teirhan's twitching cheek. Before he could squeak out a cry of protest, a powerful grip took him by the back of the neck and lifted him off the floor then turned him around until he found himself nose to muzzle with a feline face as black as pitch.

"Hrm…you're a bit scrawny for my liking…but then, I suppose I shouldn't be picky," furry lips moved fluidly in a disappointed frown. "It's been so long since I've had *_fresh meat_*…" The lips peeled back, and Teirhan saw his own terrified expression reflected in gleaming fangs.

Yulie yelped in protest when Cale swept his cape around him and dragged him out of the room. The Elder Ronin quickly blocked the doorway with a dense fog that muffled all sounds.

* * *

"And here we are at last: the threshold of our ascension," Kavan announced.

"You're pretty confident without your army…" Ryo threw a glance at the main encampment.

"You are going to need the space, especially if whom I am expecting to shows up," Kavan said crisply then looked up when he heard a grating roar. "Ahh, and here he is." The ground shuddered slightly as the thunder-wyrm alighted on the valley rim. The dragon locked gazes with Ryo, and immediately the Ronin Leader regretted his earlier misjudgment.

_*"You over-extend yourself, little man! Did you honestly believe I could be defeated by these outsiders? Ancient though their powers may be, I am older by far than the mortal whelps that wield them!"*_ Kento scowled, offended by the comment despite the thunder-wyrm's dramatic flair. _*"Six here I see only where last we fought there were ten! I am not daunted!"*_

"And yet when I observed them from afar, only three were required to strike you down. However, you raise a valid point. Our conquest would be incomplete without a glorious and epic battle." Kavan turned around and looked at Ryo. "Summon your dragon."

"…uhh…What dragon?" Ryo averted his gaze, trying to feign ignorance.

"Do not presume to play the fool! Through the bindings, my master knows a powerful beast is bound to you." Kavan pointed the tip of the rod between Ryo's eyes, and Ryo felt his arm moving up. He tried to pull it back, but Kavan saw the onyx and gold ring. "Yes, call forth your mighty pet…" Ryo continued struggling to keep from converting the Lion insignia to Dragon. "You waste your energy, Ronin Warrior. No will is strong enough to resist the bindings."

"NO!" Ryo screamed and lunged. His hands stopped only inches short from Kavan's face, but the Ronin Leader poured every ounce of will into moving forward. Kavan lowered the rod and stood there, grinning, and it seemed each time Ryo came just a bit closer, the grin widened. Ryo felt his eyes burn with rage, and he wanted to sink his fingers into the general's cheeks and rip that grin clean off his skull. A growl rose from his throat and turned into an angry scream.

Kavan hadn't budged at all and continued grinning when Ryo's fingertips came no more than a hairbreadth from his skin before the Ronin Leader staggered back, utterly defeated. "I will say this again: summon your dragon," Kavan ordered calmly. Ryo glared at the general.

_*Ancient…forgive me…*_ His fingers twisted the insignia to the side. "WHITE DRAGON!"

The thunder-wyrm watched patiently as a torrent of light poured out of the tiny ring. Light surged higher and higher until eventually revealing Raurgoth in all his bright majesty. Raurgoth threw back his head and roared grandly, spreading his wings.

"Magnificent…utterly *_magnificent_*! Behold! The instrument of our victory! Once the energy-dragon falls, our troops will traverse the vortex to the other side-" Raurgoth glanced down at his master and the prattling man. Then he turned his head forward and noticed the opposing thunder-wyrm. The energy-dragon let out a short cry and flapped his wings several times. Raurgoth's eyes widened and he also stood, flapping his wings twice then raising them high like colossal sails. He let out a low rumbling roar then hooked his wings onto his horns using the black pincer-like talons at the tip of the wing wrist.

"Is it just me or does it look like those two know each other?" Sage muttered quietly. Just then, the bindings turned dull and the subtle glow in the metal and gems faded entirely. "Ryo! Look!" Sage whispered and reached for his sword. Kavan's gaze remained on Raurgoth.

"No, wait! Let's play along for now," Ryo placed a hand on Sage's arm, remarkably restraining his own wrath. They returned to playing the servants as Kavan turned towards them.

"Now, Ronin Warrior; Order your beast to destroy the energy-dragon!"

"Yeah…about that…" Ryo clicked his tongue against his teeth. "I can't do that…"

"Do not toy with me, Ronin Warrior! Need I remind you of the consequences of resisting?" Kavan pointed the rod at him again, but did not press any of the runed gems.

"Oh, *_I_* remember what you said perfectly," Ryo folded one arm over his chest and waved his free hand idly. "But the thing of it is, I don't exactly 'order' Raurgoth to do anything."

"…What?" Kavan looked unsettled for the first time.

"Dragons are famous for having short tempers and being impulsive and reckless. Teirhan may call us dogs, but Raurgoth is more like…a cat. I could *_ask_* him nicely if he'd do something, and he might feel inclined to do it, but he'd sooner sit on your face…or eat it."

"…No…no. You…you lie!" Kavan stammered and looked up at the Inferno Incarnation. Raurgoth set his forepaws on the sand and stared down at the little man with his great golden eyes. Scaled lips peeled back exposing the killing fangs the length of a man's arm.

"I'm known as the Warrior of Virtue. I don't lie," Ryo said calmly and grinned, mimicking Kavan's tone and expressions from earlier. Kavan looked frantically from Ryo to Raurgoth.

"No! No! You will obey! You must!" Kavan pointed the rod at him. Raurgoth's jaws hinged open and a triumphant roar rattled out of his maw. Kavan looked up, horrified to see the dragon's jaws descending upon him slowly like a collapsing cave. He looked at Ryo once more, and the Ronin Leader placed one hand on his hip and raised his other. He closed his eyes and smiled cheerfully, waggling his fingers, and for the first time Kavan saw the powerless bindings. "No! NO!" Kavan cowered in place as the large jaws clamped over him.

Ryo didn't so much as blink as Raurgoth lifted his head back up. Ryo had to tilt his head back slightly to watch as the White Dragon opened his jaws again and tossed a tiny figure up into the air like Kento devouring chicken nuggets. "AAAAIIIIIEEEE!-" Raurgoth cut off Kavan's scream by catching him in his mouth and snapping his jaws shut. "AAAAAHHH!-" Raurgoth opened his jaws briefly, stretching his neck and bobbing his head much like a goose swallowing a chunk of bread. He closed his jaws then opened them again. "AAAAAHHH!-"

Raurgoth's teeth locked together and his scaled throat rippled as he swallowed. He ducked his head and tilted his head to one side, letting out a displeased rumble. Evidently Kavan put up a fight going down. The Ronin watched quietly as the dragon winced and even placed a forepaw on his chest. Raurgoth squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head then convulsed suddenly. A small belch of flame as well as a faint tortured shriek erupted from his mouth.

"…Is it wrong if you find that funny?" Rowen asked.

"With him?" Ryo glanced at his second out the corner of his eye then back at the satisfied White Dragon. "Naw," he shrugged and shook his head.

"Okay. Mwa hahahahaha!" Rowen laughed almost sinisterly.

"What do we do about them? I think they know what went down," Tanya asked and looked towards the distant army. They advanced without orders from Kavan or the bindings.

_*"Teirhan has poisoned them with greed and fanaticism. There is no saving them. Come Ruinhuriangoth! Let us put the fear of_ *fire* _back into these foolish warmongers!"_* The thunder-wyrm raised his wings. Raurgoth glanced down at Ryo, uncertain.

"Pfft, what are you looking at *_me_* for? You're a *_dragon_*! You don't need permission from me," Ryo said and waved a hand through the air. Raurgoth's expression lightened. "Feel free, cut loose, have some fun. We'll be back for you after we've dealt with Teirhan." The two dragons prepared to takeoff and the Ronin ducked from the resulting sand buffets.

"We should probably port to the entrance of the castle. There's no telling what traps Teirhan might have left in the throne room," Rowen shouted above the noise. The Ronin looked up and saw Raurgoth's silvery belly as the two dragons soared overhead. Ryo looked over his shoulder as the dragon titans set upon Kavan's troops. Lightning crackled and surged out of the thunder-wyrm's mouth, amplified by the two tusks. Fire erupted from between Raurgoth's jaws and blanketed the mass of figures. The thunder-wyrm swatted siege machines away savagely, and Raurgoth himself thrashed his tail into the ground at an angle, sending men flying. What had horrified Ryo merely hours ago he now found strangely beautiful, and he smiled.

"Man, I'm going to wring Teirhan's neck when I get my hands on him," Kento growled.

"You'll have to wait till *_I_* get through with him," Ryo said firmly and turned his attention back to the teleport circle.

* * *

What remained of the front doors shattered completely. "TEIRHAN! It's time to answer for your crimes!" Ryo roared as he and the other younger Ronin charged down the hall towards the throne room, passing Whiteblaze and White Wind. The former napped atop a pile of unconscious soldiers while the latter munched on metal armor still being worn by a whimpering guard. The Ronin slowed down when they approached the inner doors and saw Cale and Yulie standing outside in the hall. "Yulie? What are you doing here?"

"Long story."

"…And what the heck is that you're wearing?"

"Longer story." Ryo raised an eyebrow then glanced at Cale, but the Elder Ronin remained silent as he leaned against the wall. The younger Ronin entered the throne room where they saw the other three Elders by the doorway and surprisingly enough Blackblaze in bipedal mode by the throne itself. Anubis kept one arm folded over his chest and his free hand sheltering his eyes. Sehkmet looked as green as his own hair and kept both hands clamped over his mouth, shuddering occasionally while Dais seemed to be using his own helmet as a barf bucket.

"So…where's Teirhan?" Tanya asked and looked around, unable to see any trace of the king. Blackblaze himself said nothing as he occasionally popped a finger pad in his mouth, smacking his lips noisily as if he'd just dined upon a succulent sauce-slathered steak.

"Anubis? What happened to the king?" Ryo asked. He glanced at Ryo from under his hand and shook his head. Kento raised an eyebrow when he heard an audible splat from Dais' direction and saw him convulse slightly. Cye leaned into the hall.

"Yulie, do you know what happened to Teirhan?"

"No. All I saw was Blackblaze knock him down then Cale dragged me out here. I couldn't even hear what was going on," the boy complained.

"You didn't need that memory, kid," Cale commented grimly.

"Allright, can someone please tell me what happened to the king?" Ryo demanded irritably. A sudden wheezing drew his attention to Blackblaze.

The Nether Tiger's eyes bugged out and his ears flattened against his helmet. "HUUEEHH! HUUEEEH!" he gurgled and gagged, as if trying to cough up a massive hairball. Ryo grimaced, embarrassed by the sight, but Cye noticed how the Elders seemed to be either anticipating or dreading the outcome. "HUEEH! HUUEHH!" Blackblaze heaved sporadically. "Hurk, umgh…BWAALCK!" Something metallic popped out of Blackblaze's mouth and landed on the floor. It bounced once and spun around a few moments before falling over and clattering about on the inert tiles. The younger Ronin watched, interested, and finally the object ceased moving. Only then did they recognize it as Teirhan's signet ring; the same ring he'd forced Ryo to kiss.

Jaws dropped and eyes went wide in shock and disgust. Blackblaze began picking his teeth with a claw. "Yeah, I kinda figured that wasn't going to stay down," he muttered, annoyed.

"Ohhhkay…yeah…that…that pretty much tops anything *_I_* had planned," Kento commented uneasily. Yulie attempted to peek into the room, but Cale yanked him back.

"Yeah…it's definitely wrong if you find *_that_* funny…" No sooner did Rowen say that did Tanya break out in a high-pitched squealing giggle, drawing glances from the others. Blackblaze licked his lips again then shrugged his shoulders and dropped to all fours, reverting to tiger mode. He waddled rather than prowled over to the doorway. His armor creaked from being pushed out of place, as the typically sleek Nether Tiger appeared quite plump. The Ronin made sure to give him a wide berth on the way out of the castle.

* * *

"Sorry about earlier, Vaugh. We Ronin Warriors are sworn to protect humanity and we like to think all men are good, but sometimes we forget they need to be protected from themselves," Ryo apologized from Raurgoth's back where he and the other Ronin took seats between the White Dragon's spines. Raurgoth and Vaughisdrough stood facing each other on the valley rim.

*"_Think nothing of it! You are not the first to have been beguiled by Teirhan, but you certainly are the last. Besides, I am glad to have been able to see Ruinhuriangoth once again! It pleases me that some of our mighty kind yet live. If you find others, guide them here and they will find safe haven."*_ Vaughisdrough lifted his wings slightly, and Raurgoth nodded.

"You gonna be okay here by yourself, Vaugh?" Rowen asked.

_*"Between myself and Ruinhuriangoth, we have sufficiently reduced the capacity of men to that of a hunter-gatherer society. I am confident they will not soon if ever aspire to conquest again, but should they forget their lessons, I will be quick to remind them!"*_

"Sounds good. If you need help, don't hesitate to call."

_*"I thank you once more, especially you, White Ryder. Destiny has grand plans regarding you."*_ Vaughisdrough said to Yulie astride White Wind. _*"Now, you must depart, for I fear the event-horizon will change soon, and you risk exiting elsewhere than home."*_

"Allright, you heard him. Keep your tray-tables in their upright positions and arms and legs within your seats," Ryo called out. Blackblaze elected to ride the dragon this time and crouched at the very back behind Tanya. Whiteblaze perched precariously on White Wind's rump, but the Pegasi didn't seem to mind his company. Raurgoth spread his wings and prepared to takeoff.

"You know, I wonder how come Raurgoth never talks," Kento spoke up suddenly. "In most fantasy lore dragons are super smart and can talk, but we never hear anything from him even though Vaugh can talk." Kento said to those seated behind him. The White Dragon paused and turned his head to one side, glancing out the corner of his eyes. "Is it because he's not old enough to talk or is he just not smart?" The other Ronin looked annoyed but then cringed in terror at something. "You'd think if he and Vaugh are the same type he could do it…"

Kento paused when he sensed something and looked forward. He saw his reflection in a shining white surface and for some reason thought of a refrigerator. Then his gaze moved up and he saw the absolutely most ticked off golden eyes staring out from under a thick white brow. Ryo and Sage, who sat infront of Kento, had to duck down-almost flattening themselves against Raurgoth's back-as only inches separated their heads from the dragon's lower jaw.

"He's smart enough to know when someone's talking shit about him," Ryo said.

"…Oh! That! Pfft, don't pay any mind to me. That's just me shooting off my mouth," Kento said and waved a hand. Raurgoth continued to stare down at him for several moments.

***PFFFAFFFT!*** Raurgoth expelled a mixture of soot and snot from his nostrils, thoroughly coating Kento and anyone else that sat past him. Ryo and Sage couldn't help but chuckle while the others shouted and groaned in protest.

"…I deserved that…" Kento blinked several times and tried wiping his face.

"What about the rest of us?" Rowen shrieked. Cye, who sat directly behind Kento, bopped his friend on the helmet. Raurgoth pulled his head back and spread his wings. Yulie and White Wind led the way as the dragon titan rose into the air and entered the vortex.

* * *

The calm waters of the bay swelled then erupted finally revealing a towering white form. The sudden jolt threw all passengers into the bay and Raurgoth fanned his wings and roared in triumph. "Allright, you had your fun. Back you go!" Ryo held up his ring and recalled the dragon. "Vaugh was right, we cut it pretty close…" he said, noticing the vortex missing.

"Good thing too. I'm not sure I'd want to end up in Africa again," Sage commented.

"Well, at least the seawater will help wash us off…right?" Kento asked absently. Those closest to him dog-piled him and pushed him underwater angrily. White Wind and his passengers hovered in the air over the water. Ryo did a quick headcount.

"Wait…where's Blackblaze?" Sage glanced about until violent thrashing in the water drew his attention. Blackblaze struggled and floundered frantically to stay afloat.

"I'll bet he's wishing he rode with us now!" Yulie called out. White Wind whinnied mischievously and Whiteblaze twitched his tail.

"Hey, isn't there a rule against going in water after eating?" Sage mused. Ryo along with everyone else except Yulie burst out laughing.

"Hah hah haaa!" "Ohh man…" "That's just wrong…" "I don't get it…"

* * *

"I don't think you understand your position here! The Master expects all of his vassals to-" Black Hawk staggered back in the face of two Nether Soldiers as they brandished their weapons.

"NO! It is YOU who do not understand YOUR position! I know not how you managed to travel here, but your mere presence in this realm is intolerable! The only reason you yet live is because I am merciful, unlike my predecessor!" the round-faced Nether Lord growled.

"The Master will *_not_* be pleased by your refusal…" Black Hawk began.

"I could care less!" the Nether Regent bellowed, causing her to flinch. "Return to your 'master' with this message: the Nether Realm bows to NO one! Leave this realm and never return. Your concerns are not ours." Black Hawk narrowed her eyes and her hand slowly moved to the coils of her whip. She tapped her finger against the black leather, contemplating unleashing her Whip Lash Thrash upon the throne room and slaughter the rebellious nobles. "I would not dare if I were you. The wards that shield this realm from *_outsiders_* are also designed to immediately vaporize intruders who show ill-intent. I advise you to leave peacefully."

Black Hawk glanced around the room, noting the archers arrayed along the railing of the upper level aiming for her head and neck. She weighed whether or not she could strike fast enough then dismissed the notion with a heavy sigh. "Very well then Lord Mabu. It is unfortunate you have chosen not to side with us. I will inform the Master of your stance. Farewell," Black Hawk curtsied, spreading her wings slightly, before turning around. She took out her whip and swept the coils through the air, all along being aware of the nocked arrows and steady aims. As if brushing aside a curtain, the coiled whip pried the air itself open, revealing a shimmering violet portal. Black Hawk stepped through and the portal sealed behind her.

"Are you certain refusing such a summons was wise?" a Nether Soldier sporting bright gold trimming on its armor looked over its shoulder at Lord Mabu as he settled down in his throne.

"Far wiser than it would be to surrender our souls to a nameless tyrant! How this creature was able to enter this realm when the wards should have barred all travel puzzles me more than the identity of her 'master'. Assemble my clerics at once! Lady Kayura must be alerted!"


	10. Called by the Thangiens: Ouagli

Called by the Thangiens, Ouagli

By Mardrena

Mia wasn't sure what caused her to sit up in bed all of a sudden. She glanced around her room then at the alarm clock. Satisfied that she had ample time to sleep before work, she sank back down onto her pillow and tugged the sheets over her shoulder.

The second time she sat bolt upright in bed she was fairly certain she heard a scream. She frowned and looked about the room, wondering if the cry existed only in her mind, until a second shriek assured her it came from the waking world. She peeled off the covers and nudged her feet into her slippers then headed for the door. A third scream came from down the hall, the closest room being Ryo's. Mia opened the door and peeked inside, startled to see the Ronin Leader thrashing about in bed, arms lashing out wildly in the air. Mia sat down beside him.

"Ryo? Ryo! Wake up! You're having a-" Despite her efforts to placate him, Ryo continued whimpering and crying. Mia grabbed his arms and tried to pin him down, but underestimated his strength and cried out in alarm when he shoved her away, sending her against the wall. Ryo curled up into a ball then convulsed and began flailing about in bed again. Mia frowned, at first in worry, then in confusion when she heard another scream, this time distant. She closed the door behind her as she entered the hall and identified screams from separate voices in the other rooms.

"MIA! What the freaking f-" Tanya growled as she yanked her door open and stormed out into the hall. Mia held up a hand to quiet her and cocked her head to listen.

"You hear that don't you?" Tanya rolled her eyes in exasperation but Mia turned around. "…It's affecting all of them! Not just Ryo! Go check on Cye and Kento, I'll look in on Rowen and Sage," Mia said and headed down the hall. Tanya huffed irritably but complied. Mia felt especially concerned when she found Rowen and Sage-both typically sound sleepers-exhibiting the same hysteria as Ryo. Rowen had half of his face buried in his pillow and shuddered frequently. Mia initially thought Sage less affected until she saw long scars in the sheets and the mattress underneath; runs caused by his fingernails as he'd clawed frantically.

Mia jogged downstairs and plucked a sticky note off the fridge and quickly dialed. She expected the phone to ring a few times given the hour, but Kayura picked up after the first ring.

"Kayura! Listen, something's wrong with Ryo! Just a few minutes ago he started acting up as if suffering a nightmare. I tried to wake him but he didn't respond, and now I think the same thing is happening to the others. I haven't checked Kento and Cye yet, but-" Mia frowned when she heard more screaming, this time coming from the phone. "…Kayura…is that…?"

_*"The Elders. I'm afraid so. Do you remember the exact moment it started over there?"*_

Tanya stood by Kento's bed. The typically energetic Warrior of Earth showed surprising restraint as he suffered, clutching the sheets to his chest and clenching his fists so hard the knuckles went white. He twitched from side to side occasionally and whined. Tanya put her hands on her hips and watched the pathetic scene a few moments longer before leaning over his bed and reaching out with her right hand. She struck him once across the face, and when that failed to achieve a reaction, she slapped him again. For some reason she found those large cheeks of his an irresistible target… She wrinkled her nose when successive slaps produced no results.

She turned around to check on Cye only to find him not in his bed. Tanya walked over and noticed the sheets and comforter pulled to one side. She took a step to the side and leaned towards the wall, finally locating Cye on the floor, curled up and crying with the sheets pulled tight around his shoulders. Frustration faded into genuine concern from the Lady Ronin.

Tanya raised an eyebrow when she thought she heard a phone ring. She poked her head outside and looked down the hall. The study phone rang once again, and Tanya shuffled over and opened the door. She picked up the phone and raised it to her face. "Yes?"

_*"Mia?"*_ Tanya recognized the voice but apparently Michelle didn't recognize hers.

"…No…" Tanya scowled but before she could say anything else, Michelle continued.

_*"Oh, Ryo's sister!"*_ Tanya raised an eyebrow and made a face. _*"Listen, something's wrong with Dad! He started pitching a fit little after midnight and nothing I can do seems to wake him! It's like he's being attacked in the dream! I tried calling Lady Kayura but the line's busy."*_ Tanya's expression relaxed when she recognized a familiar voice screaming in the background.

"…Um…lemme put you on hold for *_just_* a second," she said and raised a finger.

"That sounds about right…Midnight is often the hour of ill deeds. That you woke before the disturbance itself occurred is both unusual and disconcerting..."

"MIA!" Mia lowered the phone and looked over her shoulder. "MICHELLE'S ON THE OTHER LINE! SHE SAYS ANUBIS IS HAVING THE SAME PROBLEM!"

"You heard that, right?"

"I did…and it confirms my worst fear…"

"What can we do to help them?"

"For now, nothing. All that can be done is to wait for it to pass. When the Elders…manage to compose themselves, I'll bring them over. I suggest you retrieve Anubis as well."

* * *

"I've checked and re-checked the remains. Every shard is accounted for."

"Excellent…I will begin the ritual soon." Dygra looked over her shoulder then turned and walked over to Black Hawk. The Demon Warrior stood rigid at attention. "You have done well these past weeks. You not only followed commands precisely but displayed cunning and initiative above and beyond what I required." Black Hawk kept her gaze down submissively, but gasped when Dygra tilted her chin up with a finger. "You have proven your worth, and because of that, I will relegate command of my legions to you." Black Hawk opened her mouth to protest, but Dygra shook her head. "The ritual will at best leave me incapacitated for an indefinite period of time, if not outright kill me. The Emperor will need a strong leader in the battlefield as well as one versed in the customs of the Mortal Realm.

"Very few mortals have desired my gift in this Modern Age, much less attained it. Out of all those whom I have bestowed power upon, none have proven themselves more capable than you. Despite your failures and shortcomings…I am pleased with you. It falls to you in my absence to act as the Emperor's harbinger of vengeance. Now, the hour of awakening draws close. I will-"

Dygra didn't know what to think when Black Hawk threw her arms around her shoulders and buried her face against her neck. The Demon Warrior's eyes squeezed shut and tears trickled down her cheeks. Dygra remained still, and for a few moments, looked happy. Then she narrowed her eyes and reached up and grabbed Black Hawk's shoulders, pushing her away.

"Steel yourself. The way is made clear for his return. As I frown upon failure and weakness, so will he. Serve him as faithfully as I, and you will share in his final triumph over the Ronin." Dygra turned around and stepped into a large patterned circle drawn across the tiles in dark-red fluid. She unfurled her spiny wings and raised them high. Black Hawk watched anxiously as violet energy crackled within the circle, arcing across Dygra's body and splayed fingers.

Pieces of shredded and twisted metal rest on an altar behind her. As the energy output peaked, the pieces began pulsing with colored light. The shards began glowing, then began warping, melting and coagulating into a large mass of molten metal. Arcs of violet light flew off like lashing tentacles and blobs of metal shifted across the altar. Bulges formed and rose, and details appeared such as seams, crests, and skull-shaped decorations on the chest and knees.

* * *

"BOWWFH! BOWWFH!"

"Goldie! Sit still damn you! You're not a Fyrhund anymore!" Roxi crouched on the porch and kept her arms wrapped around the squirming Labrador Retriever. Just before midnight the dog had gone into a fuss and ran outside. Now, despite her assurances and commands, the dog continued barking at the horizon. "Just be glad Britania sleeps like a brick!" Roxi looked to the horizon just in time to see a wall of violet light erupt into the sky from further down the mountain range. It somewhat resembled a brilliant aurora, except just looking at it evoked sickening dread. "I see it…I see it…It's okay, I'm here…" Roxi comforted.

An echoing cry erupted from the heart of the disturbance, causing Roxi to cover her ears and the previously belligerent dog to whimper. It sounded like a bellowing shriek straight out of a nightmare. Goldheart's claws scrabbled against the planks of the porch and he bolted straight inside the cabin. Roxi heard Britania's surprised remarks as the dog clambered into her bed seeking sanctuary from the terror. Her eyes remained fixed on the tainted aurora as it contorted into a shape like that of a long sinewy neck with gaping jaws and wings that spanned the sky.

* * *

Dygra collapsed to the floor after the ritual finished. Only the faint scratching caused by the twitching of her fingers against the tiles indicated she yet lived. "Take her to the infirmary at once! Have all available spirit priests attend to her!" Black Hawk ordered. Chaizar in his leonine form knelt down and scooped up the fallen Beast Warden, carrying her gently out of the throne room. Black Hawk waited until they left to dare a glance at the result of the ritual.

A large form composed of intact armor instead of shredded scraps rest atop the black marble. Black Hawk stepped towards the figure cautiously, full of apprehension and curiosity. She swallowed a squeak when the form began moving. Fingers twitched and armor rattled. Glowing reddish light flared within the sockets of the face mask, and an echoing sigh rattled out of the fanged mouth. The figure sat up slowly then swung both legs to the side, setting taloned boots on the floor. The light in the eyes shifted to Black Hawk's direction.

"Who…are you?" a deep gravelly voice uttered from the gaping fanged mouth of the mask.

"…I am Black Hawk. Dygra has appointed me to serve you. The ritual completely exhausted her," Black Hawk began and sank to one knee. "I welcome you, Emperor."

The figure rose to its full height slowly and clenched its' fists. It seemed to stretch, as if reveling in new life and strength. Then something happened, and Black Hawk reacted on impulse, rising to her feet and holding her hands up, bracing her palms against the decorated cuirass as the figure faltered. She frowned in genuine worry when the previously vibrant light in the eye holes dimmed abruptly. A frustrated growl echoed from the mouth.

"Curse Hariel and his insidious descendants! Inferno's corruption proves so potent even the Beast Warden's skill cannot wholly cleanse…"

"You should regain your strength in time. It's more important that you're alive. Please, Master, you shouldn't be seen this way." *_Steel yourself…*_ Dygra's final advice came to her, and Black Hawk knew she had to be strong for her master too. "Your guests will arrive shortly. Here, I'll escort you to your seat," she placed an arm around the figure's waist-he stood well over twice as tall as she- and guided his right arm to her shoulder. Armored fingers grasped her shoulder tight, and slowly the two walked towards the elaborate throne.

* * *

Mia poured out hot tea and offered cups to the Ronin seated on the floor and sofas. Only a few of them accepted and even fewer drank. They all had blankets wrapped around their shoulders despite the room being relatively warm. Shannon had come to assess their conditions and found them perfectly healthy on the surface, but 'rattled' thinly described their mental well-being. Michelle stood behind the sofa her father sat on, and held his right hand in her left, squeezing it occasionally in reassurance. Sage and Sehkmet sat on the sofa with him. Tanya paced about the room, the only Ronin unaffected. Ryo sat on the floor with his fingers clutching Whiteblaze's thick fur. Rowen, Cye, and Cale sat on the sofa behind him. Kento and Dais sat on the floor next to each other, their old rivalry forgotten in the night's trauma. Kayura sat alone on the third sofa and kept her hands on her knees and eyes to the floor. Mia finished distributing teacups to those who wanted and set the tray with the remainder on the coffee table.

"This is…all my fault!" Kayura exclaimed as the tray rattled. "I saw the signs! I knew the possibility! I should have acted!" she shook her head and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Kayura, you're being unnecessarily hard on yourself. You can't be responsible for whatever happened tonight-" Mia sat down beside her and placed a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"He's back, isn't he?" Cye said abruptly. Silence fell over the room once more, only broken after Tanya frowned and glanced from Kayura to Cye.

"Does 'He' mean who I think 'He' means?" Kayura said nothing but bowed her head in shame. "What? What the hell! He's supposed to be dead! Ryo and the guys tore him a new asshole at the end of the Second Dynasty War! How can he be back?" Tanya argued.

"I'm not entirely sure … I didn't think-I didn't think anyone was capable… I should have taken the proper precautions back then. It would have been simple enough to purify the remains!"

"Kayura, we all agreed that we would not meddle anymore in the Mortal Realm until we'd straightened things out in the Nether Realm," Sehkmet walked over and put his hand over hers.

"If a few moments more of meddling would have prevented what happened this night, then maybe we should have lingered that much longer! What kind of Staff Bearer am I supposed to be if I can't foresee this sort of threat! It's-I-I don't know…" Kayura stammered.

"If thus far we've encountered Pharaohn, however briefly, it stands to reason Dygra survived the Battle at the Citadel as well," Sage commented.

"She certainly is capable of executing such a ritual. Only Badamon and Pharaohn rivaled her skill…What…What did you all feel, when it happened?" Kayura asked no Ronin in particular.

"…It felt…like something grabbed a hold of your soul and tore a piece out…" Kento began.

"And there's no getting it back," Dais finished numbly.

"In order to repair such extensive damage, Dygra had to steal part of your very essence. But to bind such a powerful spirit into this world would require a vast amount of life energy…"

"The ninety-nine victims from Arizona! We never were able to recover them," Michelle lamented. Kayura tapped a finger against her lower lip and nodded slowly then shook her head.

"It would have taken much more than that…Dygra would need the spirit of a single being to compensate for the loss of the Nine; a creature of Antiquity, like a roc or even a kraken…"

"Or a dragon," Tanya spoke up and glanced at Anubis. He said nothing nor returned her gaze, but he didn't need to to confirm her suspicion.

"Yes…I suppose a dragon would suffice…" Silence fell over the room yet again.

"So…what do we do now? We barely beat him in the Second War! We gave it all we had and it almost wasn't enough! How are we going to beat him this time?" Rowen fretted.

"We do what we've always done," Ryo spoke up for the first time since the disturbance. "We fight as we always have, with all our heart and soul. We stand together, and we never give up."

"You sound awfully confident considering you remember firsthand what he's capable of," Kento grumbled.

"Why shouldn't I be?" The others looked at Ryo, surprised. "Why shouldn't *_we_* be? We've become much stronger since then. More than ever we've come to rely on each other and work as a team. We shouldn't let something like Talpa's return upset us." Ryo's words seemed to stir the other Ronin out of their malaise. "Think about it: this only shows how desperate the Dynasty is," the Ronin Leader stood up, shrugging off the blanket from his shoulders. "Ever since Talpa bit the big one, all the other lesser lords tried to fill his shoes. They wanted a piece of the pie. That didn't work out, so they brought him back, but they'll have to take orders from him again, and we're all aware of Talpa's *_glowing_* track record when it comes to treating his flunkies."

"Ryo's right," Tanya spoke up and folded her arms over her chest. "Three years ago it was just five of you against Talpa and his endless army of goons-no offense," she said quickly in the Elders' direction. "You weren't nearly as powerful back then as you are now, and you still managed to pull a victory out of your ass. Now shouldn't be any different."

_*Three years…has it really been that long? Somehow, it doesn't feel that long ago, and at the same time it feels like a lifetime's passed…*_ Ryo's mind wandered in recollection before snapping back to the present. His eyes narrowed in a determined glare. _*We can't forget the lessons we've learned, or ignore the lessons we continue to learn. I can't allow myself or the others to be upset over Talpa's return, because as powerful as he was, as he might be now, there are evils out there that make the Dynasty look like small potatoes.*_

_*I almost wonder how Talpa himself feels about everything that's happened. Our souls might be weakened, but I can't imagine he'd be in tiptop shape either. He still poses a threat to our survival. Even the Thangiens know about him. They have their own name for him; Ouagli, the Demon King. Granted, he's typically referred to as a way to scare children into doing their chores, but that he IS known as far away as Thanged stands as a testimony to his legacy of evil.*_

* * *

The massive lacquered doors groaned as they swung open and several figures entered the decorated throne room. "Lords of the Dynasty, I greet you in the name of our master reborn: Emperor Talpa," Black Hawk proclaimed grandly and curtsied. Behind her, seated in an elaborate chair, the terrible Dark Lord of the Dynasty regarded the visitors arrayed before him.

"I welcome you who have remained loyal to me in my absence. It pleases me that there are yet those who have not forgotten their gifts," Talpa rumbled.

"We swore oaths to you long ago, and we would not forsake them for whatever reason," a tall armored figure with a many-crested helm said with a hollow voice and bowed.

"Unlike others…" a similarly-armored figure hissed.

"'Lord' Mabu shall be dealt with in due time. Once the troublesome protections left by my deluded former servants are removed, the Nether Realm shall be reclaimed," Talpa declared as Black Hawk walked over to stand at his right side.

"Unraveling the wards will take time, but I am certain it is not above my skill," a floating robed figure said officiously and pale blue lips curled in a smirk.

"Bah! You call Mabu the fool? You all are greater fools if you think THAT is Emperor Talpa!" The gazes of the other three guests turned towards the fourth, a somewhat stocky figure with a decorated serpentine mask covering his face. "As far as I am concerned, that is nothing more than a puppet engineered by that demon-spawn witch Dygra to trick us into serving her! Her deformed-reject human servants failed against the Ronin, and now she seeks to enlist US to pick up her slack? I will not waste any courtesy or resources on this farce!"

Chaizar, Balthazar, and Scar-all in their beast forms- growled angrily, and Black Hawk placed a hand on her coiled whip intending to smack the arrogant noble's face clear off his head. They halted, however, when Talpa raised a hand solidly then leaned back in his throne. He set his elbows on the armrests and drew his hands over his chest, his fingertips touching almost lazily. Small points of red light flickered to life within the empty sockets of the face mask.

The noble convulsed suddenly and let out a croak. Black Hawk and the Night Warlords watched with awe as he slowly rose off the floor, twitching as he floated in the air. The glow in Talpa's eyes intensified and the noble's body began to contort. The armored twins and the spectral priest remained calm-almost indifferent- as the noble's body exploded. Limbs fell scattered to the floor and the ornate mask bounced once before clattering to a stop.

"Your criticism has been received, Baron Zelso, -**poorly**-." Talpa's eyes flared at the word before dimming. "When you reassemble yourself from the far reaches of the void, I suggest you approach me once more and we shall see if your opinion remains the same."

"See, we don't *_think_* this is Master Talpa, we *_know_* he is," the priest sniffed. The armored twins laughed richly, and even Black Hawk snickered. She stopped when she heard a soft growl from Talpa and glanced at him, concerned. The Emperor's armor shuddered slightly and Black Hawk recognized discomfort despite the motionless face mask. The display of power proved not only effective, but taxing. Chaizar seemed aware of the situation and moved quickly to draw attention from the Emperor's brief weakness.

"As you are all aware we have attempted to secure a suitable foothold in the Mortal Realm, with limited success. Before we commit our forces to a fresh campaign, you should be informed of the opposition. First and foremost are the Ronin Warriors," Chaizar summoned down the viewing screen and the guests turned to look at the displayed images. "They've ever been a thorn in our sides, and have proven harder than vermin to exterminate. Ryo Sanada, Rowen Hashiba, Kento Rei Faun, Sage Date, and Cye Mouri as you know possess five of the nine rogue armors."

"Hrm…a rather curious, if a bit archaic, stylization…I don't recall the armors being of this design," the priest commented and thumbed his chin.

"Archaic nothing. We suspect they've been upgraded sometime recently, within the last year. From what we've observed, they afford their wearers with increased power overall as well as the ability to more directly manipulate their respective elemental domains, as you see here," Black Hawk stepped forward to stand next to the priest as images of Rowen halting a train and Ryo summoning fireballs from the sky played on the screen.

"The design suggests vague European influences as well as elements of traditional mortal art forms…" While the priest continued his historical ramblings, Black Hawk glanced down at the dangling edges of his frayed robe. She tilted her head to one side, trying to determine the location of his legs as well as how he remained in the air. She even reached up and waved a hand under him, brushing her hand through the tattered fabric. "Ahem…" Her gaze snapped up and she saw the priest giving her an annoyed glare. Black Hawk meekly withdrew her hand.

"Even with their enhanced abilities, they are still mortal and fall easily to pride. We very nearly had them until an unexpected complication arose," Balthazar began and the images shifted to those of a feminine figure in magenta armor.

"WHAAAAT! IMPOSSIBLE!" Talpa's bellow drew startled glances from others in the room as he stood up and clenched his fist. "SHE SHOULD HAVE *_DIED_*!"

"Master, please!" Black Hawk hissed under her breath. Thankfully the twins and the priest turned their attention back to the screen before Talpa slowly sagged back into his seat.

"The Westerner? Impossible she would have survived to this day," one of the twins remarked.

"Mardrena the Great is long since dead. The person you see now is Tanya Sanada, sister to the Ronin Leader," Scar informed as the current Lady Ronin removed her helm on screen.

"Incompetence! The agents I sent to dispose of her years ago should have run their spears through her corpse to insure the deed was done! That she exhibits such complex training suggests that thrice-cursed monk interfered yet again. Still…she does not seem to inspire the same cohesion among the Nine as her predecessor. Mardrena had much experience in dealing with others…this one is still young…haughty…that could prove her undoing…" Talpa mused.

"And if that wasn't bad enough, your favorite angsty ex-minion is back," Black Hawk flicked her hand again and the screen shifted to images of a newly risen Anubis.

"He lives? I thought he sacrificed himself foolishly in the Second War," the priest blinked.

"Well…that's kinda sorta Dygra's bad. See, she thought if she brought him back she could use him to play some mind games with the Ronin, but it didn't work out the way she intended."

"He began subtly defying her control. Rather than murder the Ronin's civilian companions-weaker targets- he decided to attack the Lady Ronin-a stronger target- because his absurd honor required such. He even departed the Citadel and challenged the Lady Ronin of his own volition. Dygra tried to reinforce her control, but the ensuing battle against the Ronin disrupted Dygra's spell over him and they managed to sway him to their cause," Balthazar explained.

"Hah hah hah…Clearly his memory of the humiliation suffered at the hands of Mardrena has not faded through the centuries, and persists even through death," Talpa chuckled.

"Anubis had always been a formidable warrior, with but one glaring flaw. It is unfortunate he made such a poor decision," one of the twins shook his head and sighed.

"To make matters worse, they managed to enlist the support of the other Dark Warlords. The Nine have united against us, with the Lady Ronin aiding them," Scar added.

"My venerable teacher, Lord Badamon, once told me of specially designed safety measures he created for such an event. Perhaps they could be brought under our control with the Spheres of-"

"No." Talpa interrupted loudly, drawing startled glances. "The Armors are lost to me. They have been too deeply corrupted by their mortal attributes. While Dygra was able to utilize their essence to secure my spirit, it is only because of Graunin that I have regained physical form. The tainted Armors cannot be salvaged, they can only be eradicated. I am certain you will have no problem with that, General Duratir and Admiral Duratin…"

"Indeed, Emperor Talpa. We will begin assembling our forces soon."

"Well before you go off charging into battle, you should know the threats you'll face," Chaizar interjected and folded his arms over his chest, turning back towards the screen.

"Yeah, we're not just showing you all this for your viewing pleasure. It's because we don't want you to end up like Cerberus and his pack mates as you'll see here," Black Hawk waved her hand and summoned up scenes of various members of the Were Pack being dispatched in gruesome fashion ranging from a red lion and pink jaguar lethally tackling Wargal to Slayena being devoured savagely by a light blue shark. Finally, the guests watched Cerberus charge towards the Ronin in a fit of rage. They fired energy bolts from weapons mounted on their wrists to no avail, and the Demon Warrior lunged, aiming to tear out the Ronin Leader's throat.

The viewing screen, however, showed the view from further back, so the Dynasty observers saw what the Ronin themselves had not at the time; a massive white reptilian form shoving aside trees in its path as it lumbered towards the combatants. It pulled one enormous hand to the side then swept it forward, its claws coming within inches of the Ronin themselves, but striking Cerberus with such force it sent two of his heads to the ground and his body flying miles away.

"Incredible! Badamon always suspected Graunin had an altruistic counterpart living in the mountains, but he could never track the beast."

"Indeed, Bautan, and it would seem that once again The Ancient managed to intervene and beguile this one. The armors associated with it are yet another product of his meddling. Evidently the assassin I employed to dispose of the 'Mystic Alliance' failed to complete the task properly. He shall regret his folly...whenever I am compelled to discern his current whereabouts."

"Not only do you have the AnimArmors to worry about, but you have these three. Despite the clear hazard to their wellbeing, civilians have a curious tendency to gravitate toward the Ronin. This one seems to have taken to Strata. She has limited combat experience and is quite proficient with guns, as seen here," Chaizar conjured images of Roxi warding off a pursuing Slayena and fighting on the front lines at the Battle of the Citadel. "This one lacks fighting capability, but it seems just her mere presence inspires Torrent to fight with uncharacteristic ferocity." Images shifted to scenes of Britania clocking Balthazar upside the head with a book and bashing the horn of a vehicle to distract the Were Pack long enough for Roxi to escape.

"This one, however, provides the greatest threat. She's descended from members of the Mystic Alliance, and carries yet another artifact of their design: the Ronin Cross. She wields power on par with that of Lady Kayura, and she can use that power to replenish the Ronin's strength in battle as well draw upon their associated elements to defend herself if needed. Halo carries a strong attachment to this her," Balthazar explained as the screen depicted Shannon.

"We have attempted numerous times to slay them and failed, whether as a result of their own survivability or through the intervention of others. They may appear suitable targets due to their association with the Ronin Warriors, but they are not to be underestimated," Scar rumbled.

"There is one more threat you should be informed of," Black Hawk called up an image of a fearsome lavender-haired amethyst-eyed battle maiden. She glanced at Chaizar when he growled deeply and raised a hand to the puckered scar in the middle of his chest. "She calls herself 'Chi Chi Lina, Da-nay-tan-air-ah, herald of somewhere, daughter of some dude, yada yada. She arrived to pull the Ronin's fat out of the fire when they attacked the Citadel. We're not exactly sure where she comes from, and thus far we've only seen two others of her kind. We suspect she comes from an entirely separate planet. They seem to favor close range combat with various weapons, but they employ mechanized steeds that carry enough firepower to rival a gunship."

Talpa said nothing but drew his arms up and clasped his hands close to his chin. His glowing red eyes seemed to narrow. "So…they have returned…" The others looked at him, confused. "I have seen these outworlders before…long ago in a great battle. They were led by one who called himself Memner, the Sky King. However, last I saw them they rode steeds of flesh, not metal…"

"Three of them alone were powerful enough to give Dygra's armies pause, and it looks like one of the metal creatures has taken a liking to that boy that hangs around the Ronin. They're extremely dangerous and seem to have no exploitable weaknesses," Black Hawk commented.

"All mortals have a weakness, and with these outworlders, it is their insufferable pride and willful nature. They may be invulnerable to my influence, but they can be their own undoing."

"That might be true, but there's something else we observed about them. When Wildfire sent us packing, Dygra used her power to undo the spell keeping Anubis animate. By all rights, he should be a pile of bones, yet we've seen him in action several times recently, still alive and much stronger than before. Watch this." Black Hawk called up an image of a red-haired outworlder with her fingers twined in a curious gesture and her lips moved rapidly as she uttered words in her strange language. "She did this the exact same time as Anubis started to decompose, but watch what happens just seconds after." Anubis' body continued to deteriorate, but then his body began pulsing with golden light, and then as if peeling away a shell, the death and decay taking him over vanished. "These outworlders tapped into a strange power that preserved him. We're going to be in a heap of trouble if more than three decide to attack us in the future."

"They are mortal, and all mortals are weak no matter what façade they erect to indicate otherwise. The Ronin believe they strengthen themselves by gathering allies, but they merely endanger their so-called 'friends'. Humans are only brave until faced with life-threatening harm. We shall see how strong their bond remains when tested by the might of darkness. As for the Ronin themselves, they think they are pure of spirit and immune to the temptations of evil. Even the Dark Warlords claim they have shed the sins of their past, but no human, no matter how pure they believe themselves, is incapable of wickedness, mistrust, or despair. If they refuse to admit this, I will remind them of the darkness inherent in all mortals.

"Let them have their respite while I gather my armies to unleash my might upon the pathetic Mortal Realm. The Ronin Warriors will no doubt oppose me at every turn, but their strength will falter, and in the end, when my shadow consumes all, they will remember how to feel fear!"

* * *

"You said there's other Dynasty lords who still support Talpa. You have any dirt on them?"

"Dirt?" Dais wrinkled his nose in response to Ryo's query.

"He means information, and booooy, do we," Sehkmet placed his fingertips together and tapped them craftily. "The first one you should be worried about is Bautan, a protégé of Badamon. He kinda looks like a Nether Priest, except more elaborately dressed."

"Gaudily is more like it…" Cale snorted.

"He isn't as powerful or skilled as Badamon was, but well versed in the dark arts regardless. With Pharaohn dead and Dygra likely incapacitated from her ritual, Bautan will be Talpa's new go-to-guy when it comes to sorcery."

"Then we have the brothers, Duratir and Duratin. Duratir commands Talpa's entire ground army, while Duratin leads his vast sky fleet. They were human generals centuries ago, but when faced with death from old age, they gave their souls over to Talpa in exchange for immortality as Nether Warriors. With Dygra's standing forces more or less nonexistent, they'll be providing the muscle to back up any push Talpa sends out."

"So we can expect more cheerful Nether Soldiers? Shouldn't be too bad," Rowen shrugged.

"Rowen, the armies you faced in the Dynasty Wars numbered in the tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands. The forces Duratir and Duratin command number well over five million." The younger Ronin looked dismayed upon hearing Anubis' comment. "All those overwhelming forces you fought back then comprised only a fraction of Talpa's full army."

"At least we have the Thangiens on our side, but they'd have to send more than three riders if it came to that… There any others we should know about?"

"A few minor nobles, but I doubt any would flock to Talpa's banner. He did a surprisingly good job of alienating his own supporters in the Dynasty Wars. There are those like Lord Mabu in other realms who want nothing to do with him again," Sehkmet explained.

"Throwing servants who have obeyed you loyally for over four hundred years under a bus tends to have that effect," Cale grumbled bitterly. While the Ronin discussed potential foes, Kayura listened, oblivious to the golden orb atop the Staff pulsing and humming with light.

"Uhh, Kayura, I think you have an incoming call," Mia pointed out. Kayura blinked and looked down at the Staff orb. She left the room and returned a minute later with a large bowl and a plastic pitcher full of water and filled the bowl to the rim. She touched the orb to the water gently and pulled upward, dragging bluish smoke through the air. She drew a ring with the ornamented top and pulled back. The others in the room watched, curious.

"Lord Mabu?" Kayura remarked, surprised by the appearance of the Nether Regent.

"Lady Kayura! I doubted the capability of my clerics, but I am glad I was able to contact you! I must inform you, just recently we were approached by an individual from *_outside_* the Nether Realm! She presented herself as an 'Emissary of the Master' and attempted to solicit aid. We refused, of course, but the fact of the matter is that she was able to bypass the wards!"

"Did she identify herself or her master?"

"No, but I can tell you what she looked like. She seemed young, partially human with avian features and black hair and yellow eyes…I'd strongly wager one of Dygra's products…"

"Black Hawk!" Ryo hissed angrily. Kayura glanced at him and waved her hand to hush him before looking back at the portal, biting her lip.

"Although I wish otherwise, I have my own grim news to convey. Your fears aren't unfounded; this intruder is an agent of the Beast Warden, and the master she referred to is Emperor Talpa revived! He is consolidating his power and seeks to reclaim the Nether Realm."

"Aiiee! This is terrible indeed! I will begin mobilizing my forces immediately to brace for an invasion, but I fear that if Duratir and Duratin have joined him, that the Nether Realm will fall."

"We'll do what we can to keep the Dynasty busy here, but Talpa's welcome back party took a lot out of us. It'll be some time before we're back to full strength," Ryo offered.

"I thank you for your consideration, Ronin Leader," Lord Mabu nodded respectfully. Just then the portal image seemed to distort. "Ahh, the spell is losing power. We have, as you would say, 'lousy reception' in the Nether Realm. I say to you farewell, and wish you good luck," the Nether Regent said before the portal shredded into wisps of bluish smoke that wafted away.

"Well, I suppose that confirms *_she_* survived," Dais muttered.

"How in the blasted hells was she able to enter the Nether Realm? *_WE_* couldn't go back even if we *_wanted_* to!" Sehkmet argued.

"If the Nether Realm is a physical plane like our own, it's possible the Dynasty used a dimensional rift similar to the Transgalactic Gate," Rowen theorized, but Kayura shook her head.

"Lord Mabu indicated Black Hawk came and left at her leisure. Even if she used such a rift, I've always understood them to be naturally occurring phenomena; hard to navigate and even harder to control. Only the Thangiens have shown capable of taming a rift both ways."

"Maybe it's because she's still part human and the wards didn't perceive her as a major threat," Cye put forth.

"There's nothing human about her!" Shannon interjected, speaking for the first time that night and drawing startled glances with her tone. "Jennifer Carole is dead. She threw away her humanity to become a monster and not once has she regretted her actions. If she entered the Nether Realm, she did it with magic, not because she's 'still human'," she spat angrily. Cye frowned and opened his mouth to protest Shannon's harsh attitude and unforgiving stance, but much to his surprise, the last person he expected to beat him to it.

Cale bit his lip and glanced from side to side, looking uneasy, and then looked at Shannon. "Look girl, I'm not one to toot my own horn or anything, but you really shouldn't sell your former friend so short. We served the Dynasty for centuries and we came back," he reasoned, gesturing to the other Elder Ronin. Shannon glared at him for a few seconds then looked at Sage.

"Do you remember when I told you why I didn't come to the beach?" Sage nodded slightly then Shannon turned her gaze to the rest of the room. "One of my colleagues was killed recently, along with the staff of a forensics lab in Tokyo AND an entire security detail. They were studying a partial set of metallic remains taken from Toyama, with the remaining set kept in the evidence vaults of a police station in downtown. I don't think I have to tell you where they came from…" Kayura looked away in guilt, but Shannon continued. "The victims were practically butchered, suffering multiple stab wounds and mutilations. The investigators promised they'd find the killer, but that didn't satisfy me. I had to call in a lot of favors, but eventually I found out that the killer left behind a murder weapon: Several, in fact.

"They're described as being knives several inches long, black with ridge detailing along the edges. One investigator even said they looked like feathers… There is no humanity left in Black Hawk, and I'm not going to stand here and listen to anyone say otherwise! Jennifer Carole sold her soul to the Dynasty over a test, a **TEST**! I'm sure you all had less petty reasons for joining the Dynasty when you did," Shannon snarled before storming out of the room. Cale knew she couldn't be reasoned with and remained quiet. Sage stood up and calmly went after her.

"Kayura…is there any way to reinforce the wards on the Nether Realm?" Ryo asked, breaking the dismal silence.

"Ryo, they're as strong as can be made. I don't see what-"

"Would the Dynasty know that?" Ryo interrupted. Kayura grimaced hesitantly and shrugged, wobbling her hand in the air. "Let's hope they don't, then. We'll wait a day or two and rest up, try to get back on our feet. Assuming Sage gets her to calm down by then, I want you and Shannon to go out to the city and pretend you're performing some big ritual to strengthen the barrier. Historically, Black Hawk has it in something big for Shannon, so we'll use that to lure her out. Once she shows her ugly feathered mug, we're going to take her down."

"Ryo!" Cye objected. Ryo shook his head, frowning sadly.

"Look, I don't like the idea of passing judgment on someone any more than you do, but the sad fact of the matter is in the short time she's been a Demon Warrior, Black Hawk has caused more damage than all four Dark Warlords *_combined_*. She's attacked our friends and family, and if what Shannon said is true, she's directly responsible for making sure Dygra had Talpa's remains to bring him back into this world. I doubt she thinks anything she does is wrong."

"We didn't when we were in her position," Sehkmet commented.

"Well we can't exactly afford to wait four hundred years for her to turn over a new leaf. If she can bypass the wards, we can't let her live to pass this immunity on to others. If you want to sit this one out, feel free to, but our survival depends on taking out Talpa's support before he takes out ours. Talpa thinks he can just breeze on back and start his grand plans again, but we all know what's coming in the future. There are bigger things out there we have to be ready for." The other Ronin nodded solemnly in agreement, and Cye kept any argument to himself.

"That sounds all fine and everything, and you can count me in for kicking Black Hawk's scrawny keister, but before we try to recover from an experience that's probably traumatized us for life, I have to ask one thing…Does anyone else's face hurt like hell? I feel like the Dynasty hit me with a brick-stuffed pillowcase!" Kento complained and rubbed his left cheek, wincing from pain.

"I don't know, Kento. You all were tossing about so much, you might've hit yourself on a bedpost or something," Mia offered.

"I guess," Kento mumbled and lowered his hand, working his jaw from side to side. Dais, who sat to the left of Kento, cocked his head to one side when he noticed an angry red mark on the younger Ronin's cheek. This close, Dais could make out distinct details like that of a palm and five long impressions like fingers. The imprint looked small, as if made by a lady…or Lady Ronin, for that matter. Dais glanced over his shoulder at Tanya, who stood behind the sofa with her hands on her hips. Even with a single eye, he discerned a slight inflammation on her right hand, particularly on the palm and fingers.

Tanya noticed him looking at her, and initially looked confused, but then hastily tucked her hands under her arms and averted her gaze timidly, blushing ever so slightly. Dais said nothing out loud, but his single eye winked with mischief and his lips turned up in an approving smile.


	11. Ascendant

Ascendant

By Mardrena

A leaflet advertising the menu and takeout service of a restaurant fluttered where it remained nudged under a windshield wiper blade. The air seemed quiet with no pedestrians or traffic. Suddenly a shadow came over the windshield and glass snapped and metal buckled under the impact as a figure landed with such force it drove the steering column into the driver's-side seat.

Kento blinked several times and shook his head as he tried to sit up, having to wrench his arms out from where the car frame had almost wrapped around his body. He brushed bits of glass off his shoulder and tweaked a wrinkled restaurant leaflet from where it stuck under his helmet. He reached out to grab his weapon but paused when he noticed the make and model of the car he'd landed on…a very expensive make and model. "Aww man…" he moaned guiltily.

Black Hawk looked over her shoulder at where Hardrock had landed and giggled triumphantly. She returned her attention to the front and scowled when she saw Venom drawing out all six of his Snake Fang Swords. He clustered them up with both hands and hurled them at her. Instead of avoiding them entirely, Black Hawk wrapped her wings around her front like a shield. Before the tips of the swords struck, she unfurled her wings and swatted them away.

Sehkmet gasped in shock as his own swords landed in the pavement around him and sent up toxic vapors. His face mask quickly slid into position, but he keeled over and sank to one knee, choking from the abrupt inhalation. While he tried to recover, Black Hawk launched a volley of knives. A red and silver form darted forward and pulled Sehkmet to safety.

"*_cough_* I'll be fine! *_cough_* Just give me a moment's rest," Sehkmet assured and took deep breaths to recover. Ryo patted him on the shoulder reassuringly as the Elder Ronin coughed.

"What's wrong? Are the big, strong, Ronin Warriors getting kicked around by little ol' me? I don't know whether to feel proud of myself or sorry for you!" Black Hawk crowed.

"Did she just insult herself?" Ryo raised an eyebrow and looked at Sehkmet, who shrugged. "This is getting out of hand…ROWEN! Port back to the house! We're going to need backup!"

"Sure thing! I'll-OOFFH!" Rowen cried out when Black Hawk tackled him from the side and sent him flying through a building.

"You're not going anywhere, Hashiba!"

"Your confidence has grown much since Dygra took you under her wings, but let's see if that confidence prevails when facing one more experienced in combat," a voice spoke up from behind and Black Hawk banked to avoid Anubis as he pounced at her. Instead of falling to street level, he caught hold of a roof edge with his chain and swung himself up, regaining altitude with Black Hawk. She tried to dart away, but Anubis leapt after her and slashed. No matter how much she wheeled and rose, the veteran Ronin Warrior kept pace. Unlike the other Ronin, he battled without the protection of a helmet and his reddish hair flared like the mane of a demon. He hurled his chain and the weighted claw wrapped around Black Hawk's ankle, but before it went taut, she sliced through it with a feather sword.

"You know the problem with you old soldier types?" she taunted as the chase continued. The severed end of Anubis' chain glowed as the segments and claw regenerated. "You think you're all that just because you're older!" She tried to double back but Anubis remained undeterred.

"Age confers wisdom," he retorted as he continued his pursuit.

"Not to mention stubbornness!" Black Hawk sneered and uncoiled her whip. She tucked her wings close and dove backwards faster than Anubis could react and lashed out, catching Anubis' ankle with the braided cord. She flapped her wings to keep balance and swung him towards a solid wall. Anubis' eyes widened in surprise and he splayed his fingers and summoned his helmet, barely putting it on in time before striking the wall back-first. He grunted from the impact and fell forward, peeling away from the body-shaped impression. He landed on the pavement feet-first but dropped to hands and knees, disoriented from the impact despite being relatively unharmed. The click of talons against the pavement caught his attention and he looked up to see Black Hawk crouching on the sidewalk infront of him, her arms folded over her knees.

"Now see, one thing they taught me in grade school was that wearing a helmet is integral to personal safety," she said softly with a grin. Anubis snarled in rage and slashed at her but Black Hawk vaulted into the air, giggling merrily. A salvo of high-pressure water blasts interrupted her from launching feather knives, and Anubis caught sight of Cye on the opposite rooftop. Ryo jogged over to check on Anubis' condition as the former Warlord staggered to his feet.

"This girl is proving to be quite vexing…" he growled.

"You got that right," Ryo looked up at the roof level as Cye nimbly dodged a hail of knives.

"We should have come in force if you intended to bring her to justice," Anubis grumbled.

"Well the others weren't feeling so hot, and Tanya volunteered to look after them…" Cye continued to attempt to give Black Hawk what for. "Plus…I mean…it's Black Hawk. I kinda didn't think she'd be this hard," Ryo admitted sheepishly. The two of them looked up when Black Hawk sent Cye plowing through multiple walls. Anubis narrowed his eyes at Ryo.

"You have an unerring tendency to not think about a lot of things," he stated calmly.

"Hey, Ronin Leader!" The two looked up at Black Hawk as she circled above them. "You feel like chicken?" she taunted and rose higher, gathering speed for a dive.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" Ryo scowled and joined his swords together at the pommel and swung them behind himself. "And I just so happen to like mine DEEP FRIED!"

"Oh he's a funny one, he is…" Black Hawk chuckled to herself and tucked her wings. Anubis readied his chain and flames danced along the edges of Ryo's blades. Black Hawk plummeted like a missile and let out a piercing avian screech. The two Ronin likely expected her to try and catch them with her talons, but Black Hawk had something else in mind.

Some foolish humans watched the battle from the opposite side of the street. If she waited till just the last moment and swerved to the side, Ryo would unleash his Wildfire after her, not noticing the hapless crowd. Buildings would burn, civilians would suffer…she could almost picture the look on Wildfire's face. The outcome played through in her mind perfectly.

A large blue and white form intervened, startling both combatants, and forcing Black Hawk to swerve to avoid slamming into it headfirst. A high-pitched echoing squeal pierced the air and sparkling exhaust and rippling gases trailed from the flapping metal wings. While the Ronin used the abrupt distraction to regroup and recover, Black Hawk back-winged to study the entity.

"Who's Pegasi is that?" "None that I recognize…" the Ronin muttered amongst themselves.

"That's one of those metal horses! That means-" Black Hawk watched a tall figure drop down from the flying construct and land nimbly on the pavement. "Ohhh noo, not one of *_these_* people…" she moaned. The Pegasi whinnied shrilly and flew away, and the passenger it left behind stood up. Long blue hair flowed down a wide back. Pointed blue and gold pads jutted over the shoulders and a semi-skirt of thick cloth swatches and straps hung behind the waist. Clenched fists seemed to draw up into the thick padded bracers extending from the wrists to just below the elbows. Sunlight glinted off of polished blue boots.

"Heeey! It's Azuro!" Rowen cheered.

"Wow, who's she?" Sehkmet whispered abruptly, causing the others to moan in exasperation.

"That…is Danae's older brother," Anubis sighed and rubbed his eyebrows with his fingertips.

"He's a _duuuuude_!" Kento added. Sehkmet's eyes widened and he gulped.

"Oh…uh…you don't think he heard me, do you?"

"No, I did not hear you SehkTakin." Sehkmet squeaked in fear but Azuro smiled at him before glancing at Ryo. "RyoTakin, would you take offense if I took up this fight in your stead?"

"Not at all man, help yourself," the Ronin Leader replied gladly.

"Hee hee, she's screwed…" Kento chuckled under his breath.

"HEY! HEY, YOU!" Azuro looked to the sky when he heard Black Hawk shouting at him. "Yeah! Yeah, I'm talking to you! Listen! I don't know where the heck you people keep coming from but I suggest you turn around and go back to wherever it is you come from!" Black Hawk sneered and made a dismissive gesture at him. Azuro narrowed his eyes and sniffed.

"Vieke." The Ronin all broke out laughing upon hearing that, but Black Hawk bristled.

"Hey! I've heard you people call me that word before! What does it mean! I want to know!"

"It means you're a hoooooooooooor!" Rowen hollered, cupping his hands around his mouth. Anubis chuckled richly and Ryo muffled his snickers. Black Hawk clenched her fists, absolutely fuming. Azuro calmly drew a sword similar to the one Danae wielded, but with a wider cross-guard decorated with cut sapphires and braided gold.

"Oh no! If you want me to come down there for a fair fight, you can just forget it. You're going to have to call your platinum pony if you wanna duke it out." Azuro didn't seem fazed by her taunts and surprisingly enough, sank towards the pavement in a crouch. The Ronin watched, curious, as the Thangien pressed his chest down against his knee and his calves against his thighs, as if trying to flatten himself against the ground. "Oh, so what, you're giving up already? You recognize my superior might?" Azuro said nothing in response and bowed his head.

Ryo frowned, genuinely confused, but he'd heard the Thangien fighting art of Rait'chian contained over a thousand techniques, so he assumed Azuro had something planned. He blinked when he sensed _something_; a disturbance in the very air itself. Anubis took notice as well and raised an eyebrow upon hearing a very faint hum. The blade of Azuro's sword rest against the pavement and for a moment the compacted Thangien looked absolutely still. Black Hawk looked at once confused and disgusted by this strange behavior.

Azuro sprang into the air with such speed and force the second after he left, the ground rippled and sank into a shallow crater. Black Hawk gasped as the Thangien flew towards her like a missile, screaming in the deep throaty roar of a Thangien male. She barely had time to block the incoming strike, but instead of being deflected entirely, Azuro swung his legs forward, touching the tips of his toes against Black Hawk's knees and somersaulted higher into the air. He spiraled around and lashed his sword to one side, then dropped down and struck again.

Black Hawk banked, intending to avoid him and let him fall to the pavement, but he swung his sword, producing a barely visible distortion in the air. Instead of continuing to fall, he moved towards a nearby wall and spiraled, striking the brick with the tip of his sword and using it to flip himself up the wall. When he reached roof level, he braced the soles of his boots against the wall and crouched before springing at Black Hawk once more, shockingly able to keep at level altitude without aid of armor or steed.

"Wow! I didn't know Thangiens could fly!" Ryo remarked with awe.

"He isn't flying. Look at what he's doing with his sword. He's generating force wakes that he uses to keep himself aloft and propel himself in any direction he desires," Rowen pointed out as Black Hawk desperately tried to evade Azuro with no success.

"Huh…he'd make a good Ronin Warrior if there were any openings…" Sehkmet commented.

"…What?" Cye squawked and glared at him.

"That does it!" Black Hawk and conjured a small energy orb and fired it at Azuro, disorienting him long enough for her to clamp her talons around his shoulders and fling him down. The Ronin gasped in alarm, but the Thangien quickly recovered and used his sword to steady himself, striking the pavement with the tip before landing neatly on his feet.

"Whoa-hoa! Way to go Azu-ro!" Kento cheered. Azuro flashed a grin over his shoulder.

"WHOA! WATCH OUT!" Ryo shrieked. Azuro looked forward but felt it rather than saw it as one of Black Hawk's feather knives buried itself in his chest. He blinked several times, almost in disbelief and took a step back. The Ronin stood utterly speechless with horror.

"Finally! I thought you'd never shut UP! Yeah, that's what you get for calling me a hoor!" Black Hawk sniffed as Azuro reached towards the knife with a shaking hand. "Stupid Outworlders…huh?" Black Hawk raised an eyebrow when Azuro began to tug at the knife, an expression of annoyance rather than agony on his face. The blade slid out of his chest with a wet rasping sound, and oddly enough little blood stained the etched metal or his colorful combat uniform. "…Oooookaaay…I'm fairly certain you shouldn't have been able to do that…"

"Wow…I've heard of this but it's the first time I've seen it in action …" Rowen whispered.

"What are you talking about?" Ryo asked, looking both stunned and queasy.

"Thangien physiology isn't exactly the same as human. Their nerves are much more responsive to injury. Azuro's body reacted the _instant_ the blade touched his skin, so his heart managed to pull itself out of the way," Rowen illustrated by drawing a fingertip across his chest.

"EWW! EW EWEWEWEWEWEW!" Kento exclaimed hysterically, drawing his arms up towards his chin as well as odd looks from the other Ronin.

"You wounded me…" Azuro narrowed his eyes at the feather knife.

"Um…yeah, that was kinda the idea…"

"That was a mistake!"

"Obviously, seeing as how it didn't work," Black Hawk shrugged. The bloodstained knife clattered against the pavement and Azuro moved his arms so the blade hung behind him, almost touching his back. "…So…what are you trying to do now? Are you scratching your back? You giving yourself a haircut?…Aaaare you trying to perform spinal surgery? I'm sorry, but you got me really confused here." Azuro said nothing as he assumed the same stillness from earlier. He suddenly spun around on one heel and moved one foot back, bracing himself as he slashed through the air. Black Hawk wrinkled her nose, confused.

Ryo heard a sound like gas filtering out of a pipe and fire sputtering to life. The sound went from a whisper to a crackle, and sparks of bright bluish light flew out of the space where Azuro had slashed. Puffs of flame erupted from thin air and curled upwards. Black Hawk honestly wondered whether something spectacular had fizzled in an equally spectacular fashion. Fire unlike anything Ryo had ever seen began spewing from the air like water from a cracked dam.

Azuro flicked the blade of his sword and seemed to catch the flames with the tip and nudge them higher. He spaced his feet apart and steadied himself, all the while lashing upwards with his sword. The fire billowed and boiled a few moments before surging up towards Black Hawk. The flames produced a high pitched hum rather than a crackling roar. Something nagging in the back of her mind convinced her it wasn't just a light show and she flapped her wings to ascend out of the way. Azuro slashed again, and the flame wave shifted in her direction.

"So _that's_ what a Metra Wave looks like…" Rowen whispered in awe.

"It's strange…but…it feels no different from the powers we wield," Anubis remarked.

"It wouldn't. Azuro is a Metraind; one who's achieved the Metraverse rank of Rait'chian. He can easily be classified as one of the most powerful people alive on Thanged. A Metraind can tap into what Thangiens call 'the very fabric of being'," Rowen explained as Azuro continued to unleash the fury and might that was his heritage, all the while bellowing deeply. While Rowen praised the Thangien's prowess, Cye observed with a different opinion in mind.

_"They may claim they are human, but they are not human…"_ _Her_ words resonated in his mind, and Cye scowled in concern at Azuro's display. Black Hawk desperately launched salvo after salvo of feather knives at the Thangien, but Azuro lashed his sword about and bulges of blue flame grew to intercept the shots, disintegrating the metal molts. Energy whirled around Azuro in a giddy frenzy and continued to feed the ever-growing column chasing Black Hawk.

"Forget this!" she cried and vanished just before she ran out of sky. Azuro swung his sword a few more times before sheathing it stylishly. The second the cross-guard touched the scabbard, the astonishing Metra Wave diminished into a faint smudge like a wisp of smoke then vanished.

"Duuuuuuude! You _spanked_ her!" Kento cheered.

"Those were some pretty sick moves!" Rowen complemented as well. Azuro smiled slightly then glanced to the side as his Pegasi returned to him, landing beside him.

"Ahh, thank you Skywrath," Azuro said as he retrieved something out of the war saddle.

"Dude, you okay?" Ryo asked as Azuro shook a Richtho leaf out of its wrapping.

"I will be fine. The wound is superficial," Azuro replied calmly and held his shirt down with two fingers while he stuffed the leaf over the narrow hole in his chest. The sight made some of the Ronin feel more than a little ill, but the Thangien didn't seem adversely affected. Sehkmet used the opportunity to get a better look at the man he'd heard the others speak so highly of. Azuro looked every bit as tall and leggy as Rowen and as broad in the shoulder as Kento.

"So what brings you to the Oldworld?" Anubis inquired.

"Yeah, you come for your fair share of the action since Rona and Tornath had all the fun last time?" Rowen teased. Azuro chuckled softly and looked skyward briefly.

"Ahh…If only my reasons for coming were as pleasant…" Ryo frowned when he saw the almost distressed look on Azuro's face. The Thangien sighed heavily then looked at them. "I come because I feel I have been marked for death." The Ronin muttered amongst themselves but went quiet as Azuro continued speaking. "As you know, very few have ever achieved Metraverse rank, my father being one of the most recent. His death in battle seemed to inspire the next generation, and there exist more Metraind now than there have been in the past ten-thousand years. As of three days ago, we numbered eight…now, only five of us remain.

"We do not know who is responsible, but whoever it is, they are a coward, in _every sense of the word_!" Azuro snarled angrily before letting out a heavy sigh. "We do not fear death, but dying in any manner aside from battle or old age is a shame akin to pain. Until this fiend is brought to justice, we surviving Metraind have been dispatched to Earth under orders from the Watchrider to establish safe houses. The others have already situated themselves…however, I desire to stay with those my sister found so endearing on her first visit here," Azuro grinned.

"Well, if you need a place to bunk, you'd be better off with them. I doubt you'd want to share a basket with me," Sehkmet shrugged and pointed at Ryo.

"I'm afraid myself and Michelle could offer modest accommodations at best. I'll have to concur," Anubis stated and folded his arms over his chest.

"We'll have to arrange things with Mia, but I'm sure we can find space for you," Ryo said.

"There's an _excellent_ selection of sofas to choose from!" Kento clapped his hands together, ever the gracious host. Azuro smiled in gratitude, not at all noticing how Cye eyed him warily.

* * *

Black Hawk cried out after hitting a pillar back first. Her wings drooped and she sagged towards the floor. "Master…please…I-" she choked.

"SILENCE! Tolerating excuses as pitiful as yours is what led to my downfall in the past. I have learned not to repeat the same mistake," Talpa growled and his eyes flared brightly. "Contrary to what you may believe, the Dark Power is not a fashion statement to be used so frivolously. If you continue to prove yourself undeserving, I can easily strip you of your powers." Black Hawk looked uncertain, given Dygra's words after her initiation. "Oh, but I can. It is quite doable, and quite, quite painful, I assure you. Dygra appointed you to serve me with confidence in your skills…do not betray that confidence by proving otherwise, lest I leave you helpless in the hands of your erstwhile companions, who I am certain would 'greet' you with open arms."

"Emperor…I…I'm sorry for failing you…but this Outworlder is unlike the others. You can see for yourself the sort of power he wielded! I-" Black Hawk cringed when Talpa's eyes flared again. "I don't believe I'm qualified to face him again in combat!"

"Oh, but you are," Bautan began with a honeyed tone. "You have more first-hand experience in dealing with these Outworlders than anyone else. I believe you to be more than capable of the task." Black Hawk scowled, certain she sensed something other than encouragement.

"I hardly believe it is appropriate to dispatch her again to deal with such a formidable Outworlder without adequate reinforcements. Black Hawk, you have my permission to take a small contingent of my troops with you on your next endeavor," Duratir rumbled.

"Your…offer…is greatly appreciated…thank you, General," Black Hawk bowed sincerely.

"You have an hour to prepare sufficiently. Seek out this Outworlder, and do not return unless he is dead! Have I made myself resoundingly clear!" Talpa bellowed.

"Yes, Master," Black Hawk bowed again then turned to exit the throne room. "I don't get paid enough to put up with this bullshit…" she muttered under her breath.

* * *

After an hour of unwinding and settling in, Azuro decided to venture out into the yard to train. He'd shucked the padded bracers, surcoat, and undershirt of his combat regalia, and Mia and the girls enjoyed a real treat as he executed advanced combat techniques shirtless. Even Whiteblaze, who recognized Azuro's scent, had come to watch. Beside him sat a Labrador Retriever who no longer possessed the urge to bite the tiger's tail.

"How long is he going to stay?" Roxi queried and rubbed Goldheart's floppy ears.

"Until he gets the all-clear from Thanged, I suppose. In the meantime, we get to watch more nummy, shirtless goodness," Shannon grinned mischievously.

"I should get Cye to train like this more often. It's quite fascinating to watch. Even Tanya can't resist coming out to ogle," Britania giggled. The Lady Ronin glared at her, annoyed.

"Whaaaaaat? Please. I'm only here to study some of the Rait'chian techniques he's using."

"In that case, care to enlighten us country Oldworlder bumpkins?" Shannon teased.

"Yeah, unlike you and Mia, we didn't get the season pass to Thanged," Roxi reminded. Tanya blew her bangs from her eyes and put a hand on her hip and pointed with a finger.

"You see what he's doing there?" The girls looked to Azuro who lashed his sword in a triangular pattern through the air. Grass rippled for quite some distance in the direction he faced. "It's called a Metra Tempest. It uses distortion wakes to throw an opponent off balance. And that there?" Azuro began somersaulting into the air and striking the ground with the tip of his sword, supporting his weight on the blade for a few moments before flipping up and lashing again. "That's a Sweeping Comet move called Comet's Tail. He can use that to move himself out of a sticky situation in a crowded battleground." While Tanya explained each technique, Britania scowled and looked skyward when she heard a rumble and saw the sky darken.

"Oh bother, looks like fun's over for today," she complained.

"…That isn't rain…" Mia muttered and narrowed her eyes. Azuro paused in his routine and looked up when he saw lighting flash. Roxi had to grab Goldheart's collar and a clump of Whiteblaze's fur to hold them back when the two animals began growling angrily, sensing a threat in the sudden change of weather. Bolts struck the ground close to Azuro, startling him.

"OUTWORLDER! You people like to gab about your gods in battle. Well, I'm going to send you on an all-expenses-paid, one-way trip to see them!" A winged figure descended from the clouds. Mia gasped when dozens of Nether Soldiers appeared in her yard. Shannon shrank away as they stood within spitting distance of her, yet their attention remained squarely on Azuro.

"Tanya, I think you should armor up. Azuro's going to need backup," Mia whispered.

"Ehhh, he'll be fine," Tanya shrugged and waved, surprisingly indifferent to the situation.

"I am called a Thangien, you ignorant vitreelas-spawn. In case you have forgotten from when you faced my sister and lost," Azuro snorted disdainfully.

"You could be called mud for all I care! You people have meddled in the Dynasty's plans for the last time! There's no buildings for you to rebound off of here, and I won't give you the chance to use your special ability this time!" Black Hawk shrieked.

"I don't need the Metra Wave to punish your impertinence, vieke. I will show you the folly of crossing the son of Ander Vai Stel Vethu!"

"I'll make you eat those words with a heaping helping of humble pie for your last meal!"

"I know she's supposed to be part bird now, but Jennifer sounds like an absolute bucket of ham at the moment," Britania whispered. Roxi drew her pistols, but more as a precaution against any Nether Soldiers that took an interest in the nearby Guardian than to aid Azuro.

"I hope you've packed your bags for your trip to the Afterworld…ATTACK!" Black Hawk cried and fired a salvo. Soldiers hurled spears, shot arrows, and threw chains at the same time. Azuro responded by spinning his sword above him like a wheel, deflecting Black Hawk's knives and impaling nearby soldiers with them, killing several. Then he swung down and drew a circle in the ground around him. The air rippled and Azuro knelt behind his blade. Any incoming missiles that touched the distortion field halted midair before dropping to the ground.

"Galactic Missile and Metra Shield…" Tanya muttered while the battle continued. One soldier fired an arrow behind Azuro, hoping it'd catch him in the neck. Azuro noticed in time to dodge, but instead of letting it continue, he reached up with his sword so that the blade ran parallel to the shaft. With startling speed, he swatted the arrow back to its sender, killing the bold soldier. "Solar Ray Sling," Tanya whispered as Azuro continued to cut the attackers to ribbons.

"Tanya, I really think you should-," Mia began. Tanya interrupted by making a funny hissing-chittering sound and flicking her fingers at her before folding her arms back over her chest.

"What are you clowns DOING? KILL HIM! KILL HIM NOW! HE'S JUST A MAN! A MAN WITH JUST A SWORD AND NO ARMOR!" Black Hawk shrieked and fired knives without abandon, hoping to catch Azuro unawares while he concentrated on decimating her minions, but Azuro had a thousand moves to deal with such an onslaught.

"ENOUGH! I grow tired of this!" Azuro howled and swung his sword about, wrapping the air itself around his blade. Soldiers continued attacking to no avail as the distortion wake shielded Azuro while he geared up for something big. Azuro crouched then sprang into the air, flipping several times before striking the ground with his sword.

The blade seemed to fracture and multiple swords of bluish light flew out in all directions. The blades spun through the air as they plowed into all the remaining soldiers. The lifeless husks collapsed to the ground, the Nether essence drifting out of the gaping cuts.

"…Uh uh!" Black Hawk squeaked and shook her head before disappearing into the clouds.

"And that, ladies, was a Metra Nova," Tanya explained to the awestruck women.

"Azuro doesn't look too happy about winning…" Shannon commented. Sure enough the warrior looked depressed rather than triumphant.

"He's wishing he could be going after bigger fish…you know what I heard from Rowen? One of the victims on Thanged was someone he was dating," Roxi stated.

"Oh! That's horrible! No wonder he's so upset," Britania fretted.

"Do you think the Dynasty's responsible?" Shannon asked.

"No. Did you notice how Black Hawk kept calling Azuro 'Outworlder'? I don't think they even know where Thanged is," Mia replied.

"I hope they find the killer soon," Britania said as Azuro sheathed his sword.

* * *

"Can't you go any faster! I'm already late!" Yulie complained. White Wind shot back with a spat of squeaks and grunts en route to the estate. "No no! Forget about landing! Just dump me off on the balcony there!" White Wind made a 'if you say so' sound.

"I imagine fighting Black Hawk twice in one day's worked up quite the appetite for you. Dais tells me Thangiens love soups, so I decided to prepare dinner with that in mind. It's a common dish for our country, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless," Mia said as she filled small bowls.

"Slian Yador, MiaTakin!" Azuro complemented. He paused in reaching for the two wooden implements set out for him when he heard a loud series of thumps and muffled cries.

"Sounds like Yulie just arrived," Ryo chuckled and looked up as a roughed-up teen ran downstairs and seated himself to the left of Azuro. They all began eating what Mia called a simple dish but Azuro found to be quite interesting. Kento made quick work of his first bowl, fishing out all the solid chunks before drinking the soup down. Rowen ate without as much fervor but just as heartily. Sage, Ryo, Cye, and Mia dined at a more reserved pace while Tanya daintily plucked bits and ate the slowest. Yulie barely touched his soup and stared at Azuro.

"Hey Azuro, how do Thangiens make that sound?" Azuro blinked and glanced at him.

"What sound?" he raised an eyebrow and set his bowl down.

"That sound you guys make in battle. That 'aaaaiiiaahuuuhh' sound." The guys threw the boy odd looks upon hearing the strangled cry, but Azuro regarded him seriously.

"I assume you mean the Soul Scream. Thangien vocal cords operate differently from Oldworlders and that enables us to produce such a wide range of pitches. However, the first person to utter such a cry was not a Thangien…it was my father, Ander Vai Stel Vethu."

"The Far-Star Traveler. That's what they called him, its' literal translation is 'distant-star-journey'," Rowen explained and gave a polite nod at Azuro, who nodded back solemnly.

"When my father led Thanged's armies against the wicked Thunthen-who desired to conquer our world-he triumphed, but as a last act of spite, they unleashed a terrible weapon upon our sister world; Planet Banguk. My father saw Banguk burning, their people dying, and he screamed for each and every soul, voicing a cry unlike any had heard before or since. Since that fateful day, in every battle against any foe, we Thangiens have tried to recreate that cry of anguish."

Azuro braced both hands against the table, inhaling deeply. He opened his mouth and uttered a cry like the song of a whale amplified ten times. Whiteblaze flattened his ears and scowled. The guys and Mia winced and Tanya slowly reached up and plugged her ears with both index fingers. Yulie listened in awe as the cry faded away and Azuro closed his mouth.

"DUDE!" Tanya squawked irritably.

"It is our lasting monument to him. Each time we fight, we remember the man who came from Earth and that there is greater strength in the common man than can ever be measured." Azuro suddenly blushed sheepishly. "Ahh, it is rude of me to relate such a sorrowful tale at such a time. Bah! And I have neglected your generous meal!" Azuro scooped up his cooled soup bowl.

"Oh, we don't mind at all! It's very interesting for us to learn about your family. I've heard your father is considered-" Mia began but stopped when Azuro not only finished his soup in one gulp, but lapped at the inside of the bowl with his tongue, slurping loudly. Tanya resumed eating quietly as did Yulie while the others watched, utterly flabbergasted as Azuro seemed determined to extract every drop of soup. Rowen noticed Ryo's expression and leaned towards him.

"Thangiens don't like to be wasteful," he whispered.

"That's an understatement," Ryo commented. Azuro seemed satisfied and set his bowl down. Cye, who sat to the right of him, took the bowl and held it out to Whiteblaze.

"Hey Whiteblaze, how clean is this bowl?" he asked. The tiger lifted his nose up and sniffed at the bowl before snorting in disgust at the lack of residue for him to lap. "Yeah, I thought so."

"Well…I assume you enjoyed your meal-" Mia began, her left eyebrow twitching slightly. Azuro inadvertently interrupted her with a loud reverberating belch that caused some of the guys to jump in their seats and stare at the Thangien wide-eyed.

"Wow…you seriously just did that…" Sage commented, horrified. Azuro smiled happily.

"The stomach sings its' praises," he stated, utterly oblivious to the massive breach of etiquette.

"Really? Cool! Maybe I should start-" Kento grinned.

"NO!" Mia shrieked and glowered at him so menacingly, the Ronin Warrior curled up in his seat. Mia reclined back in her chair and glared at Azuro with a mix of anger and perplexity.

"Uh oh, I think you just threw the gauntlet," Ryo spoke up and watched his sister take a long swig of her drink. Azuro blinked in confusion as the Lady Ronin finished and set her glass down. She placed a hand on her chest and took a series of deep breaths then opened her mouth.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Mia leapt clear across the table and tackled Tanya out of her seat, clamping a hand over her mouth and muffling the Lady Ronin's cries of protest. Yulie and Azuro laughed merrily while the others winced at the sounds of commotion. While Mia and Tanya continued to fight, Kento took the opportunity to discreetly refill his bowl.

* * *

_He stood in the gardens of his family's estate, going through the most rudimentary of maneuvers as a warm-up. He looked up when he heard his name called and saw her jogging towards him. She brushed strands of her rusty red hair away from her freckled cheeks and reached into a satchel she carried, pulling out two chorinae. He accepted one gratefully and the two began peeling the rinds, enjoying both the snack and each other's company. They talked about their families; she of her mother's recent commission for the Rider's Citadel, and he of his sister's impending Pairing. She smiled radiantly and asked about the Pairmate-to-be._

_He discarded the remains of his fruit in some bushes by the courtyard wall then looked back at her to answer her question, but halted when he saw the expression on her face. He thought maybe he'd offended her, but the way her arms hung limply at her sides and the vacant look in her widened eyes indicated otherwise. He asked her what was wrong, and gasped when she started to rise off the ground. Her head hung listlessly on her shoulders as if something had grabbed her by the collar. Mad cackling echoed in the air from all directions._

_He cried out for her, but she hung dead in the grip of the unseen fiend. The stone of the walls crumbled and flew away like flakes of paper and all vegetation in the garden browned and withered. He drew his sword and screamed vengeance against the attacker, but the unknown voice mocked him with wicked laughter. He screamed her name, hoping to return life to her, hoping she'd blink her dead eyes and awaken from the nightmare._

Azuro sat bolt upright on the sofa cushions and cast off the blanket lent to him. His body glistened with sweat and shuddered with anxiety. He reached up and rubbed a hand over his face, cursing himself for not being there for her and being forced to endure such a nightmare.

"Azuro? You okay? I heard you squawk," Ryo asked and leaned into the living room.

"…Thangiens do not squawk," Azuro growled, offended.

"Well, you did. It sounded like a 'aaauuuck'," Ryo insisted by trying to replicate the odd cry that woke him from down the hall. Azuro's shoulders sagged in admission and he drew his knees up to his chest and folded his arms over them. Ryo sat on the sofa next to him.

"Have you ever lost someone close, RyoTakin? Someone you wanted to save, but could not?"

"…I know the feeling, yeah…" Ryo recalled the spirited girl from the States.

"I did not find out until the day after…that is how the others went; in their sleep."

"No idea how they died?"

"The Traedeskaton found no toxins in their bodies…and no disease kills that swiftly without prior symptoms or traces in the flesh. Whoever is responsible employed vile, blasphemous methods. I am angry that someone would dare strike my friends down, and I am angrier still that they were not afforded the chance to fight back!"

"Whoa, hold on there. You don't know exactly what happened and you're not doing your friends' memories any justice with that attitude. One thing I've noticed is you seem to think battles are only fought on the battlefield, but that isn't always the case. Every day is full of battles and they're not always for the fate of the world and between heroes and villains.

"A friend told me once, years ago, that real battles aren't fought with swords or skill, but with spirit. I guarantee you your friends fought every bit as hard as they could before they died. They lost, obviously, but they fought just the same. There'll be justice for them, I promise you that, but you can't let these things upset you and throw you off your game. You read me?"

"…you speak a simple truth, one I have overlooked in my anger…Thank you for reminding me, RyoTakin," Azuro smiled and nodded.

"Hey, while you're here, Ryo'll do just fine. Now get some sleep. You got a few hours before breakfast, and if you wait too long, Kento won't leave a scrap for you," Ryo chuckled and stood up to leave. Azuro waved at him and waited till the door shut before settling back down on the sofa. He drew the blanket up to his chest and placed both hands on his stomach before closing his eyes. Ryo returned to his room and shut the door behind him, not taking notice at all of a more sympathetic-looking Cye lingering in the hallway a few doors down.

* * *

"Hmm…" Fingers held the lid away from the eye for a few seconds before letting them slide back shut. "He's showing REM, so he's not unconscious…" Rowen muttered. He and the other members of the household except for Tanya gathered around the sofa where Azuro lay.

"If he is dreaming he's the soundest sleeper in the universe," Cye commented.

"But, he's not breathing. You think he-," Kento worried.

"There's no rigor. Besides, just because you don't hear him breathing doesn't mean he isn't. He's in deadsleep. It's an extended form of meditation. According to ancient legend, adults weren't living long enough to protect their families. Roth grew so concerned that she agreed to multiply their lifespan, but in exchange they would have to roam the paths of the Afterworld as they slept; to become accustomed to death when came their appointed time," Sage explained.

"Well if he's meditating, he should've woken up when I called for him, right?" Mia asked.

"Yes. The fact that he hasn't means something's gone very wrong." Sage stepped to the side when he heard Whiteblaze enter the room and approach the sofa. The tiger nudged Azuro's elbow with his nose then sniffed at his face. His ears flattened and he growled.

"Even Whiteblaze knows something's up. You think it's the assassin?" Kento glanced at Ryo.

"Azuro said the others died with no trace of illness or injury. If Azuro is somehow being attacked and the assassin isn't human or Thangien, that means the other Metraind could be vulnerable too. I already contacted the other safe houses, but only one didn't respond. Lucky for us they're situated in Toyama. Anubis and Tanya are already on their way…"

* * *

"RyoTakin! I can hear you! I can hear you, but I am not in the pathways! I do not know where I am! I am trying to wake up, but something bars my way!" Azuro cried out, his voice echoing through the ash-filled space. The ground he stood on looked blackened and blighted and the clouds a dark yellow. Jagged rocks dotted the horizon and lighting streaked the sky. Azuro scowled when he heard familiar laughter. "Who are you! Why are you doing this to me?"

* * *

"Do you have some sort of personal grudge against the color red? You plowed through, like, nine red lights! And I'm fairly certain that cop you blew off was the same one you traumatized last year," Tanya huffed as she pulled the motorcycle helmet off and hung it on the Rider. "You really should get two of these, you know, if you're going to have company from time to time."

"That is a concern you should voice to your brother, not I. Besides, it made more sense for you to use it; being the more delicate female," Anubis pushed the kickstand down and pocketed the keys. Tanya bristled at the comment and huffed indignantly. Then she frowned as she thought of a comeback while they headed inside the apartment complex.

"Red lights, Ryo's armor, Mardrena's hair; you really do hate red things. I find it rather odd considering you're sort of a red-head yourself…some weird self-loathing complex, I guess? I bet it has to do with that nickname. What did the Elders call it? Red Top Kid? Teeny Fire Guy?" Anubis glared at her as they approached the elevator. "Now I remember! Little Fire Head!"

"Tanya, I would throttle you if we were not pressed for time."

"I doubt you could land a hit anyway," she scoffed as they entered the elevator.

"Sadly, the urgency of the mission at hand takes priority," he sighed and pressed one of the buttons on the panel. The doors slid shut and the lights blinked on the display. The elevator came to a stop at the fourth floor and the doors slid open. Anubis exited first with Tanya following a step behind, rubbing her arm just above the elbow.

"Hey! Open up! What's the Thangien word for 'open the friggin' door?" Tanya rapped her knuckle on the door. "Wrathrider and…and…hey, how come I don't have a cool title?"

"Because they have yet to address you as such."

"No answer…maybe they went out?" Tanya knocked again.

"Highly unlikely. King Torke mandated they keep a low profile."

"Hmm…I wonder if we could pick the lock…" Tanya leaned down to examine the doorknob. She blinked when something rushed past her head coming no more than an inch from her face. The door splintered off its hinges and fell forward and Anubis put his foot back down and stepped inside. "…Or willful destruction of property works just fine…" Anubis didn't reply with anything witty and instead darted inside and knelt down beside a figure lying on the floor.

"He's alive…just unconscious…how's the other guard?" Anubis looked over his shoulder at Tanya as she touched the neck of a fallen female.

"She's fine too…but what about Rothenn?" The two Ronin headed towards the only bedroom with a closed door and Tanya reached over and opened it cautiously. Sure enough, the dark-orange haired Metraind in question lay completely still in bed. Tanya pulled up a chair and sat down then gingerly peeled open one eyelid. "He's got the same symptoms as Azuro…if they were supposed to roam the paths of the Afterworld, something knocked them off course."

Anubis walked over to an old-fashioned phone and dialed the estate number. "Ryo, Tanya and I are here, and Rothenn seems to have fallen victim to whatever plagues Azuro-,"

_"Hold on a sec, lemme put you on speakerphone over here."_

Anubis eyed the phone with disgust and snorted. "Cell phone, digital phone, wireless phone, speakerphone, how many blasted phones are there…"

* * *

Azuro turned around, and every direction he faced he saw a different landscape ranging from desolated replicas of the House of St'lur to the Ronin's estate. Then the environment seemed to stabilize into a rocky surface flying adrift amongst glittering nebulae. Azuro stared up at the wondrous sight then blinked and whirled around when he heard the whisper of boots on rock. "Rothenn? Is that really you? Or am I merely seeing an aspect of this wretched prison?"

The dark-orange haired youth narrowed pale green eyes and grinned. "Prison? It's such a subjective word…are we not all prisoners in some form? Prisoners of rules, of religion, of flesh…yet we are only prisoners if we permit ourselves. This place is no prison, but a refuge from one. I have freed myself, and here, I plan to free you," Rothenn declared and folded his arms behind his back. A breeze rustled the loose edges of his yellow combat uniform, but oddly enough he carried no weapon whereas Cloudrazor remained with Azuro.

"I am…not sure I understand you…this…this place, this dreamscape…is your doing?"

"Do you ever wonder what comes after Metraverse? Or are you content with that being the pinnacle of your training? Do you ask yourself if there is more you can accomplish, or do you just trust whatever your peers tell you, what the 'goddesses' tell you? There is, and I have found it!" Rothenn whirled around and threw his arms up while Azuro watched him, confused.

"The things they preach, the hollow rhetoric they force down our throats, is nothing more than a façade the goddesses use to keep us from achieving greater things! Azuro, I have seen the future! I know what comes to claim us all, and the goddesses would keep this truth hidden to preserve their own status! They expect us to depend on swords and sorcery to fight an entire race of fallen angels! Why sacrifice ourselves needlessly in the Entide when we are capable of so much more! All that you see here? This realm is but a childish demonstration of my ascension!

"You ever wonder why they don't walk among us anymore, like they did in the old stories? Because they fear people like me! People who break the barriers imposed by belief! They know we'll outgrow them and cast them aside! Those legendary Metraind of history? They weren't heroes, they were pariahs! The reason they were never counted in as great numbers as in all those millennia as we are now is because the goddesses have done everything in their power to stifle our potential! If they were so benevolent, wouldn't they try to enlighten us? No! They would rather we remain blind followers charging into battle, mere cannon fodder for the End Tide!

"I brought you here to free you and the others before it's too late. Here, we are safe. The goddesses hold no sway here. I can shield myself from their influence, but I cannot protect you or any other outside of here. The others, I tried to show them…but the goddesses' corruption ran too deeply in them. They wouldn't listen, even after I showed them how to ascend!-"

"Is that why you killed them?" Azuro scowled. Rothenn looked at him and put a hand on the back of his head. "Aulioch and Ramhethet? Is that why you killed _her_? Keuireen?"

"She attacked me! She blinded herself to the truth. She was already lost…"

"You could have let them leave in peace! If your power was so great, you could have made them forget your secret and let them continue 'serving blindly'! But no, you did the unspeakable; you murdered them for the simple crime of having a different opinion."

"Azurotago, please! Your father had dealings with the Four! Surely you don't think his death against the Thunthen was as valiant as the llaudauns say! _HE_ knew! _HE_ saw, and they disposed of him because of it! You can't continue serving false gods after what they did to him!"

"SILENCE!" Azuro bellowed and lashed one arm to the side. "You try to make yourself sound as if you speak truth, but all I hear from you is that anyone who disagrees deserves to die! The Queens have ever been our friends and guides. They do not appear among us not because they fear us; they do it because they choose not to interfere! They have always taught us that our fates are ours and ours alone to control. If I 'serve blindly', it's out of choice, not coercion. Choice is the greatest power we have over our destiny. We can choose how we live, how we act, what role we play, who we serve. We can choose to be righteous…or wicked…and you have chosen wickedness," Azuro snarled and drew his sword. Rothenn looked at him desperately.

"…I tried…I really did…but I was mistaken…I'll keep trying, you know. Phaeryn, Geiro, Nalore…if I cannot save them either, then the burden falls to me and me alone to free our people." Rothenn clenched his white-gloved hands and lighting struck the rock around him. "I'm sorry, Azurotago. All I can do now is free you from your final prison: life."

"GUELVAAAT!" Azuro shrieked and made the first slashing stroke of a Metra Tempest. No force wake slammed into Rothenn, however.

"Metraverse won't aid you here, Azuro. This is my world, and I make the rules. We've always been taught to draw upon the universe's power, to ask of it politely, but why ask, when we can _command_!" Cracks spread around Azuro and carved a circle in the rock.

"Why do you cling to such madness? Your name means 'Blessed of Roth'! Your strength should be used to protect others like the friends you needlessly slaughtered!"

"That's the funny thing, Azuro Skyblade; I didn't _choose_ to be named such, did I? Rothennmel is but another bar in a complex cage, but I've slipped loose of those constraints. I will make you regret your folly, even if I have to TURN YOUR WORLD UPSIDE DOWN!" Rothenn's eyes glowed and his hair flared. The rock Azuro stood on flipped over, and Azuro crouched down and secured his toes and free hand in small cracks and ridges. Gravity in the dreamscape caused his hair to hang 'down'. Azuro looked 'up' and saw a pitch black void.

_Is this how the others died?_ Azuro recalled Ryo's words and imagined his friends as they finally succumbed and fell; their minds severed from their bodies.

"I could easily kill you now." Azuro glanced to the side in surprise upon seeing rock grow and shift, acquiring features like that of a face. "I could let loose the rock and send you to your doom. The only reason you yet live is because I still hope you'll see the truth and repent!" the stony mouth spoke with a gravelly version of Rothenn's voice.

"Olc jlea!" Azuro screamed and slashed, burying the edge of Cloudrazor into the face's right eye. Rothenn's voice screamed and the face receded into the stone. The cracks of the platform sealed up, trapping Azuro 'beneath'. He scowled, remembering that Metraverse remained closed to him, but not the other ranks. He pulled back then began charging up his blade as if for a Cresta's Wheel then struck again. The rock shattered and Azuro rose through the hole, twirling around and catching the edges with the tip of his blade and moving higher with each pass. His toes touched the ground and the hole sealed up beneath him. "If you are so willing to take life to continue your madness, then I'll gladly take yours to end it!"

* * *

"Whoa! Anubis, you see this!" Tanya gasped. Anubis looked over his shoulder in time to see a deep bright red line form starting from Rothenn's forehead and running over his right eye before coming to a stop over his cheek. "It's like someone mashed a sword into his face!"

* * *

Azuro turned around when he heard a grinding crunch and saw a bulge of rock protrude from the surface. It assumed first the height then shape of Rothenn before changing to flesh and cloth. The wayward Metraind had one hand clamped over his right eye. Blood trickled out from under his palm. Azuro threw back his head and laughed. "You make yourself up to be as a god, yet you still bleed just like any other mortal. How do you expect our people to bow down and revere you over the Four? So pathetic and weak! You haven't ascended well enough, it seems."

"I _AM_ A GOD!" The rocky plain shuddered and a powerful wind kicked up. "I _AM_ A GOD!" Azuro buried the tip of his sword into the ground and knelt behind the blade, unable to use Metra Shield but still able to deflect most of the rock chunks that peeled up and flew towards him. One, however, struck him in the left shoulder.

* * *

"I'm sorry Tanya, what was that you said?" Ryo asked.

_"Rothenn just suffered an injury from some invisible force…"_ Anubis answered. While Ryo listened, the other Ronin looked at Azuro in worry. Cye's eyes widened when he witnessed a bruise form over Azuro's left shoulder, as if something had struck him and dragged over the skin.

"Ryo, check this out! This just appeared a second ago! I think something's attacking them!"

_"Or perhaps they're attacking each other…"_ Anubis muttered from the other end.

While Tanya pressed a towel over Rothenn's cut, Anubis listened to the others' reactions as Azuro apparently suffered more mysterious injuries to his knuckles and scalp. Aside from the single cut, Rothenn remained untouched. "Ryo, I think Rothenn is the assassin."

_"You serious?"_

"Quite. It makes perfect sense: why else would the three victims have expired with no signs of fatal wounds? He's using astral projection to detach his consciousness from his body and investing a great deal of focus in holding Azuro's consciousness hostage."

_"There any way we can save him?"_

"I'm not sure…perhaps physical force to Rothenn's body might disrupt his concentration…"

Ryo frowned in worry and looked over his shoulder at Azuro. _Don't give up, no matter what. Fight with everything you've got. For the sake of your friends and family, you can't lose!_

* * *

"Why don't your precious Queens come to your rescue? Surely if they were as righteous as you believe, they would strike me down for my blatant wickedness! It's because they fear me, because they have no power in this place! They've abandoned you, JUST LIKE THEY DID YOUR FATHER!" Rothenn's voice rumbled through the air like the peal of thunder, and the nebula clouds roiled in the sky. Azuro noticed the rocky landscape shrinking as the winds broke bits and pieces off and swept them into the void. Eventually he'd run out of rock to kneel on…

…_he lies…He lies…_**HE LIES**… voices like that of an earthquake and an angelic choir reverberated in Azuro's mind, and oddly enough, Rothenn seemed totally oblivious.

_My…Queens?_ Azuro's eyes widened briefly before he shut them again against the storm.

_we…we…We would not forsake the son of Ander_… a gentle voice began.

_He has forgotten the strength of spirit, of friendship. by…by…By killing those who could have helped him, he has weakened himself…himself…_**HIMSELF**_…_ a different voice hissed.

_The fate of men has always resided in their hands…hands_…**HANDS**… _There is greater strength in you than he would ever be capable of_… a third voice intoned.

_He will grow careless…careless…careless…and drop his guard. It is at that moment you must strike…strike_…**STRIKE**! a fourth voice bellowed.

_We have always been with you…you_…**YOU**… all four spoke in unison.

"I…I understand now…" Azuro grunted.

"What, that I'm right?" Rothenn taunted, his fury un-abating.

"No…why I believe in what I do, in what you used to…they speak to me, Rothenn! The Queens! They condemn you, and at the same time they weep for you, who have fallen so far! I weep for you too, my friend, because when you have passed, I will remember the boy who I shared stories with and who shared many adventures with me."

"The only weeping shall come from your family! As for the Queens, I shall strike _them_ down and remake Thanged free from their influence; as it once was, as it SHOULD BE!"

* * *

"You said physical force might snap him out of it?" Tanya asked and stood up.

"Not entirely, but perhaps disrupt his focus ever so slightly."

"Good…I think I got something in mind…HYAAAAGH!" Tanya curled her right hand into a fist, pulled back, and then lunged, thrusting it into Rothenn's crotch.

* * *

"What?" Rothenn exclaimed and the chaos encircling them froze.

_now…now…now is the time…Now is the time_…**NOW IS THE TIME**! Azuro sprang up and charged, screaming with the fury, anguish, and sorrow of his fallen companions.

Rothenn convulsed and let out a dull gurgle. Azuro stood infront of him with his blade running through Rothenn's torso all the way to the cross-guard, the blade protruding from his back. "But…I-I'm a g-g-god! I'm…not…supposed to…die…I'm not supposed to…die…" Rothenn sighed and fell backwards. Azuro let his sword slip from his fingers as the dreamscape crumbled around him, leaving behind a brilliant white expanse instead of consuming black void.

* * *

"DO YOU ALWAYS HAVE TO AIM FOR THE REPRODUCTIVE ORGANS?"

"Well it's not like he'll notice! He's still out, so it obviously didn't work!" While Tanya and Anubis argued, Rothenn's eyes snapped open.

"I'm not supposed to die…" he whispered, drawing their attention. A spot of bright red formed over his stomach, growing rapidly and spreading over the sheets.

"Whoa! I didn't think I hit him that hard!" Tanya cried in horror.

Mia gasped when Azuro sat up suddenly and rubbed his forehead. "Azuro! You're awake! Are you okay?" she offered him an icepack while the others voiced their relief.

_"RYO! RYO!"_ Ryo's startled gaze snapped to the phone when he heard his sister's distressed cry. _"Something happened to Rothenn! He said something about not dying but now I think he _IS_ dying! I didn't mean to hit him like that! I didn't think I'd-"_

_"It's okay Sis. Azuro's awake. The assassin's dead. It's over."_ Tanya wiped tears from her face and looked at Anubis, who had an arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

* * *

"So what happens now?" Ryo asked. He and Azuro stood out on the lawn next to the sheet-wrapped corpse of Rothenn. Azuro stared down at it sorrowfully then looked up.

"The others will return to Thanged to inform the Watchrider. I, however, wish to remain on Earth for a time…I need time to clear my head. …I am finding myself wishing this was yet another nightmare… For him to feel such dissent is one thing, but to resort to such extremes! I cannot forgive him for what he did, but I cannot understand _why_ either!"

"Every bunch has a bad apple or two. There was obviously trouble brewing in Rothenn before he got his powers, and he attacked the very people that could have helped him. He chose to abandon the tenets of Rait'chian. You can't make sense out of senseless anger."

"But we hold ourselves to higher standards! He condemned so much the discipline we are taught as warriors, but he disregarded the very thing that should have prevented all this!"

"Look, Azuro, you may be able to run up walls and play musical chairs with your insides, but at heart, we're all human. We have the capacity for good or evil, and it can be both a strength and weakness. You could think of him as another victim, you know. He fought his own doubts and lost that battle," Ryo comforted. Azuro nodded slowly and bit his lip.

"You are probably right Ryo…It will take a long time before I can forgive his actions…but as for his body…" Azuro narrowed his eyes at the shrouded corpse. "He cannot be buried and he cannot be burned. He must be consumed so this evil is purged from his spirit and he can eventually find redemption. Ryo, I have heard you are capable of summoning a titanodracoasaur; what you call a dragon. Could you summon it here and now?" Ryo raised an eyebrow and glanced from Azuro to the wrapped body several times before his eyes widened in disbelief.

"Whoa! You want me to call Raurgoth…to-oh no, I couldn't!" he waved his hands.

"Please, RyoTakin! It must be done this way!" Azuro begged.

"I-but-it…oh allright…just this once though," Ryo said sternly and held up a finger then reached for his signet ring. "WHITE DRAGON!"

Brilliant white light surged up as high as a Metra Wave before assuming a towering winged form. Raurgoth bellowed grandly and spread his wings then folded them and settled down on all fours. "Great dragon! I have an offering for you! Would you accept it?" Raurgoth curled his neck and looked down at the tall blue-haired figure that wasn't Rowen standing next to Ryo.

"He's serious," Ryo confirmed in an uneasy tone. Raurgoth's brow ridges moved up with delight and he took a step back before snaking his head down towards the wrapped body. He reached out with his tongue and lifted the body off the ground gently then eased it into his mouth. While he leaned back, Ryo looked at Azuro. The Thangien had his fingers twined in the Chain of Life symbol and uttered a variation of the prayer Rona had used with Anubis, with the appropriate words for Rothenn. Azuro kept his eyes closed as he continued chanting, and Raurgoth tilted his head back and his throat rippled as he swallowed.

"Vai taag, vai taag, moretan und tael ta-" Azuro and Ryo both jumped in surprise upon hearing-and feeling- a massive echoing belch and looked up at Raurgoth, embarrassed.


	12. Blood Calls to Blood

Blood Calls to Blood

By Mardrena

Outside the cabin, the jet's engines whined noisily. Inside, the passengers enjoyed quiet comfort relaxing in various ways. Rowen, as usual, sat by a window and had spent most of the flight staring out at the clouds as they swept past. Beside him, Cye watched a movie on a chair-mounted TV screen. Behind the two, Tanya napped curled up in her seat with a thick blanket wrapped around her. Anubis turned the pages of a novel he'd taken along for the trip, being considerate enough not to disturb the Lady Ronin next to him.

On the opposite side of the aisle, Sehkmet sat hunched over in his seat with an open airsickness bag close at hand, his face looking nearly as green as his hair. Kento's noisy indulgence of a gourmet meal in the adjacent seat only compounded the Elder Ronin's discomfort. In the seats ahead of them, Sage reclined in his chair and listened to soothing music from a CD player while Cale idly flipped through a magazine. Dais sat at the front of the left side of the aisle and rapped his fingers against his armrests impatiently. He straightened himself up in his seat then turned to the side and folded his arms over the armrests.

"Okay, I know I asked this when we took off, but I'm going to have to ask again; Why are we on a private jet headed to the middle of nowhere-"

"Utah," Rowen corrected without removing his gaze from the clouds.

"Whatever-Utah, when the last time we had to travel to the States we merely teleported?"

"…Because, Shannon's aunt already paid for the flight and it'd be rude of us to decline," Ryo replied calmly and shrugged from where he sat at the front of the right side.

"Plus we get first-class service!" Kento piped up from the back. "Hey steward! Can I get another steak?" Kento placed his utensils on the clean-picked plate then placed his hands on the back of his head as he waited for the wiry black-haired thin-mustached man to arrive.

"Sir…that's your fifth one," the steward commented dryly.

"So? Everything's been paid for, right?" Kento replied cheerfully and blinked, cheerfully oblivious to the very slight eye-twitch of the steward.

"Indeed it has…" the steward collected the dinnerware then headed for the back of the cabin.

"Then, who had us take off at a moment's notice for whatever reason?" Dais asked.

"Jacqueline O'Connor is Charles' older sister," Sage began and reached up slowly to pull out the ear buds of his player. "She runs a pharmaceuticals company that handles research and manufacture of several medications."

"So while Charles chose the path of practicing medicine…" Anubis began.

"His sister learned how to make them," Ryo commented with a smile.

"Hey steward!"

"Nyaaaauuugh!"

* * *

Several hours (and several steaks) later, the jet landed. The Ronin disembarked very much surprised to see a man holding a sign reading "Sanada and Co." standing next to a limousine. "WHOA-HOA! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' about!" Kento crowed. The other Ronin felt more reserved about their ride to the company's facilities while Kento kicked back and relaxed with his hands behind his head. "I could get used to this sort of treatment," he said with a smile.

"Why all of this expense for us? What does she need us for?" Ryo asked Sage, who shrugged.

"No idea. Charles just said he'd gotten an urgent request from his sister. I guess we'll have to wait till we meet her in person." After less than an hour, they arrived at the relatively isolated complex of carefully tended grounds and clustered buildings. From the air the facility resembled a heraldic cross with narrow glass passageways connecting four outer buildings to the central structure. Each building contained at most five floors, but as the group entered the lobby, signs and maps on the walls indicated several more floors existed below ground-level.

Ryo walked over to the reception pen and leaned against the counter. "We're here to see Ms. O'Connor." The young woman seated on the other side glanced up at him.

"Do you have an appointment?" she chirped. Ryo frowned and glanced at the others.

"Um…I don't think so…she should be expecting us…" he replied weakly and glanced back at her. The woman stared at him suspiciously and Ryo began to feel nervous.

"OOOOOOHHHH! You must be the investigative team from Japan! She's on floor two. I believe in Lab 3. Go on ahead," she smiled and waved at the elevators. Ryo raised an eyebrow at the first sentence but kept any remarks to himself and the Ronin headed for the elevators. Kento, however, backtracked and leaned over the counter.

"Hey, you have a break coming up any time soon?" he asked, startling the young woman. Cye reached back and grabbed him by one ear. "OW! OW! Hey! What gives!" The receptionist and two members of the security staff watched as the skinnier brown-haired man dragged the stockier one and crowded into the elevator with the other eight members of the party.

"Ms. O'Connor, some people are here to see you," a security guard announced as he opened the door marked Lab 3 from the outside. The Ronin, with Ryo at the front, entered the rather spacious room. A woman in her late forties stepped away from the group at the center and approached them briskly. She had short hair of a darker blonde than Charles or Shannon and regarded the ten visitors with dark green eyes. She reached out and offered a hand to Ryo.

"Jacqueline O'Connor. You have my profound thanks for coming on such short notice," she said while Ryo returned the greeting. "Before I can explain further, I'll need you all to suit up."

Ryo blinked, uncertain of the meaning of the request. He glanced around the room, assuming she meant protective wear since they were in a lab. He exchanged glances with the others, who were likewise confused. He looked back at Ms. O'Connor, who had her arms behind her back and tapped a finger against her wrist. She stared at them expectantly while behind her two men and a young woman waited. At tables and desks arrayed along the walls of the lab, scientists in lab coats looked up from their previous tasks and watched. Then Ryo's eyes widened.

"Oh…um…there's civilians…here…" he grimaced and pointed at the staff members.

"You'll be working alongside my employees. They'll need to know they can trust you."

Ryo looked over his shoulder at Rowen and Anubis, who nodded after a moment of hesitation. "Allright then. Ronin to arms!" The staff members watched, amazed, as the visitors' bodies emanated bright, colorful light. Ms. O'Connor herself either hid her surprise or expected the transition from casual wear to form-fitting metal mesh and thin plate. Armor creaked slightly as Ryo lowered his arm. Ms. O'Connor looked over her shoulder and turned around slightly.

"See? They're people, just like any one of us," she stated. The remark surprised Ryo. Jacqueline reached to the side and took a vanilla folder her young assistant held out for her. "Lazro Cochran and I have been partners in this venture for over eight years." Sage's eyebrows went up upon hearing that but remained quiet as Ms. O'Connor continued. "Despite his reputation for radical views and practices, he'd been an integral member of my board…until last year. He began taking frequent trips abroad with very little advance notice. I hired private investigators to look into his recent finances. They found several large deposits to off-shore accounts, but they didn't come from any of my business rivals. Oddly enough, they seem to have come from rare coin collectors in various countries-" Jaqueline opened the folder.

"Mind if I take a look at that?" Sage spoke up abruptly and stepped forward. Ryo raised an eyebrow but Ms. O'Connor didn't object and held out the folder. Sage took it and turned it around and the others watched and waited while he examined the documents.

Those who knew Sage closest often described him as being 'cold tempered', as he expressed anger differently than most others. Ryo knew from the way his eyes narrowed and the faint sound of air coming from his nostrils that something about the file had him pissed. Sage quickly slapped the folder shut and gave it back to Jacqueline.

"It's him. He's the little prick who helped the Dynasty's minion create the Kraken that killed Mia's teammates in Okinawa last year," he snarled.

"Wow, you fought one of those? Cool!" Sehkmet remarked.

"So that means it wasn't altered magically, but biologically…" Rowen muttered grimly.

"Well I guess Lazro _wasn't_ hosting a seminar that weekend…" Jacqueline sighed.

"You'd think, by now, modern men would be above siding with the Dynasty," Ryo lamented.

"Ryo, lemme tell you something," Dais clapped a hand on the Ronin Leader's shoulder and leaned against him. "When you get to be my age, you'll find out the hard way that there's no such thing as a 100% virtuous man. EVERY man has a little darkness in them."

"…When I get to be your age, my grandchildren's grandchildren will have grandchildren."

"Assuming you _have_ children!" Cale brought up from the back of the group. The Elders broke out laughing, with Dais poking at Ryo and shaking him merrily while the latter's expression soured. Ms. O'Connor whispered to her assistants then looked back at the Ronin.

"If Cochran has switched employers, he can be more dangerous than anything you've faced."

"How?" The other Ronin looked at Tanya, who folded her arms over her chest. "He sounds like just a mortal guy. If he's a rogue member of your staff, why call us over then? Why does this concern us?" Jacqueline stared at the Lady Ronin for a few seconds then all-but slapped the folder into the arms of her female assistant. She wordlessly spun on one heel and took off walking towards the opposite door. Ryo hissed at Tanya, who shrugged defensively. The trio of assistants looked nervously from the Ronin to the door, indicating they should follow. The team made their way through the lab, passing by bewildered scientists and security guards.

When they caught up with Jacqueline, they found her swiping a plastic keycard through a lock and leaning toward a retinal scanner. The door marked Lab 4 whispered open and she entered swiftly, the Ronin following a few steps behind. At the center of the room stood a tall box obscured entirely by heavy white cloth. The guards in this room wore riot gear and carried heavy rifles of some sort. One of them looked up from chatting with those closest to the box and stepped away to intercept or greet the concerned executive.

"I wouldn't if I were you, Jackie. He's been grouchy today."

"He's _always_ grouchy, but he'll behave in _my_ presence," Jacqueline stated firmly and reached out for the edge of the curtain. The guards stepped away as she yanked the cloth away.

Ryo almost bumped into Rowen recoiling at the sight of what occupied the cage. Animalistic screams echoed through the lab and the bars rattled but held as gnarled hands slashed in their direction. Tanya shrieked expletives and the other younger Ronin looked shocked. The Elder Ronin exchanged worried glances before turning their attentions back to the maddened entity.

At first glance it looked like a bipedal bear or canine, and Ryo thought perhaps one last member of the WerePack had escaped death. It stood almost eight feet tall with the tips of its' pointed ears gracing the roof of the cage. Yellowed bony growths poked out through thick brownish fur along the neck, elbows, and spine. Spittle flew off of double rows of teeth as the creature snapped powerful jaws. After he managed to overcome his initial surprise, Ryo noticed the tattered remains of a light blue uniform identical to those worn by members of Jacqueline's staff. A plastic name badge swung on its pocket clip, too quickly for them to read.

"It's okay Gary. Shh…shh…" The guards winced and the Ronin gasped as Jacqueline inserted her hand _through_ the bars. Ryo felt his heart almost jump into his throat and the others looked like they felt the same as the creature glared at Jacqueline's outstretched hand. "I didn't bring them here to stare. They're here to help. They're going to find the _rat_ that did this to you, and they're going to make him _pay_. Shh…shh…" she whispered soothingly. The creature slowly crouched down and wrapped clawed fingers around the bars. It leaned against the wall of the cage, and Jacqueline placed her hand on its head and began stroking the fur between the ears. "Shh…shh…It's okay…shh…" The Ronin couldn't help but watch amazed at the sight while the guards looked relieved that their CEO's hand remained intact.

"Gary here is-was- my overnight utility manager. Three nights ago, he told me about inconsistencies in supply logs apparently signed by Cochran. I suspect he tried to confront him about it. When he didn't report back the next day, I sent a security team to find him…by the time they reached him he'd already gone through the early stages of severe physical mutation. This was apparently an effort to silence him, but…as you can see; the effects carry far greater consequences than death." Jacqueline continued patting the creature consolingly.

"I partnered with Lazro to help mankind. It was a simple enough agreement: he handled R&D while I took care of marketing and funding. He was supposed to find ways to treat terminal illnesses, pandemic-class viruses like influenza, even the common cold…not this…_not_ this…" her previously solid voice had turned to a hoarse whisper. She withdrew her hand and the creature turned around inside his cage and curled up on the floor, whimpering sadly.

"Talpa would have this Cochran villain bolster the Dynasty's ranks like this," Sage growled.

"But _why_? He can crank out Dynasty Soldiers like there's no tomorrow." Cye argued.

"Why _not_?" the other Ronin looked at Anubis as he stepped forward. "We think nothing of running our blades through the metal husk of a Dynasty or Gargoyle Soldier, but would we do the same to a creature of flesh and blood? If we were to face an army of misshapen beasts such as these," the creature named Gary glanced his way before returning to brooding. "Would we be so quick to dispatch them with even the slightest possibility they could either be willing converts or enslaved innocents? We are warriors…not butchers. We would show restraint."

"I wouldn't!" Cale quipped but grunted when Rowen elbowed him.

"This brings back baaaad memories…you all remember that one time, years ago, when Dygra offered to 'enhance' us?" Sehkmet whispered and curled his middle and index fingers.

"I'd take having one eye over eight any day," Dais sneered and shuddered.

"Of course, the only one of us who wouldn't need treatment would be Anubis. He's already scarier than an ogre," Cale chuckled. Anubis smirked at the comment and glanced over his shoulder. None of the Elders seemed to notice how Jacqueline cocked her head to one side and turned to look at them. She leaned to the side slightly and clasped her hands behind her back.

"Gentlemen, I'm not entirely sure I understand what you find so funny," she snapped, startling the four. "The bullet you brag so much about dodging hit my employee here. He happens to have a wife and little girl who haven't seen him in two days, and all I have the heart to tell them is that he suffered severe burns. How do you think they'll feel when they eventually learn the truth?" she roared. Anubis ran a finger over his ear sheepishly while Sehkmet looked alarmed. Cale seemed almost impressed by her wrath, and Dais averted his eye remorsefully.

"Whoa, hold on a sec. I'm sure they didn't mean any insult," Ryo intervened and held one hand out at Jacqueline and the other at the Elders, as if trying to keep the former from attacking the latter. "It's just…this isn't something we have a lot of experience dealing with," he admitted and glanced from the Elders to Ms. O'Connor. She folded her arms over her chest and nodded.

"Understood, which is why you'll be coordinating with my chief of security, Michael Perry." The man who had greeted her upon entering the lab stepped forward. He looked slightly older than Ms. O'Connor with slight peppering of gray in light brown hair but his blue eyes looked considerably friendlier than Jacqueline's simmering stare.

"An honor to meet you," he offered a hand in greeting to Ryo, who responded in kind. "I've heard impressive things about you. I imagine you're not accustomed to working alongside civilians, but be assured my men are expertly trained and more than capable of providing support fire in combat. I'll need to consult with one of you on your respective abilities to assign you to the appropriate posts around the facility grounds." Rowen opened his mouth to offer his expertise and raised a hand but paused when Sehkmet spoke up.

"Why?" The other Ronin glanced at him and Chief Perry blinked in mild surprise. "Why do you need us to fight for you? If this is the work of one man, why should we help?" Ryo threw him an annoyed glare but looked back at Ms. O'Connor, somewhat curious to hear her response.

The woman's lips spread in a slight smile and she cocked her head then took a step towards him. "You're going to help me…because I _asked_." The other Ronin stepped out of her way as she walked towards Sehkmet very slowly. "You're going to help me, because it's _what you do_." She stopped infront of Sehkmet and leaned towards him.

The taller and much older Ronin Warrior leaned back involuntarily and cringed slightly. "And you're going to help me because two days ago a federal corrections facility fifteen miles east of here reported that over three-hundred fifty inmates and security personnel went missing. It took two days for whatever bile Cochran infected Gary with to run its' course," Jacqueline pointed at Gary briefly. By this point, Sehkmet had curled his arms close to his chin, looking like a snake coiling defensively. Jacqueline leaned closer and Sehkmet staggered back a step to keep from toppling over as her face hovered less than an inch from his.

"You're going to help me, because if you don't, not a _single member_ of my staff is going to live to see the next day."

* * *

"Hmm…okay…" Kento muttered to himself and ran his thumb over his chin as he gazed through the plastic window. "Here goes…" he reached out and braced one hand against the black metal case and the other against the window. He pushed forward ever so slightly then thumped the case solidly, actually tilting the metal box onto one edge briefly. The metal coils wobbled then made a whirring sound as they rotated once, surrendering their prize. Kento reached down and pushed up the metal flap with his wrist and neatly retrieved the item. "Here ya go; one Cream Doodle," he handed the delicious treat to one of the heavily equipped security guards. The men cheered and clapped over the triumph of man over ornery vending machine with a reputation for devouring quarters. "Okay, who wanted the Peanut Crispy Cake?" One of the guards raised his hand and Kento got back to work on cajoling more snacks from the machine.

Rowen stood at one table in the spacious break room with Chief Perry and a few other guards and pointed at various points on a map of the facility, chatting while an intrigued Perry listened. At another table, Sage and Cye found themselves answering questions by curious guards ranging from their abilities, history, and the differences between sub-armors. Sehkmet leaned against a wall with his hands clutching his shoulders. He didn't look up as Dais and Tanya approached.

"Wow Sehk, you okay? You're looking a bit greener around the gills," Tanya remarked.

"Yeah, what's wrong? Intimidated by a mere woman?" Dais snickered, apparently forgetting who stood beside him. Tanya scowled and elbowed him sharply, reminding him. Sehkmet looked up at them with nervous eyes and glanced from them to the far end of the room then back again.

"You know how people always call _me_ the insane one? _That_ woman scares the crap out of me!" He pointed off to the side. Tanya and Dais giggled and snickered respectively.

Ryo noticed Anubis leaning against a soda machine. "You don't look too happy," he commented as he walked over to stand beside him. Anubis frowned and glanced at him.

"I can't say that I approve of any of this…"

"Well, I know we've traditionally shunned working with civilians in the past, but-"

"No. It isn't that," Anubis interrupted then flicked his gaze around the room. "This man, Cochran… I find his depravity and profane knowledge of the workings of man most unsettling."

"I know, right? Who needs Dark Warlords when you got evil henchmen with degrees in bio-engineering," Ryo commented and leaned back against the machine.

"A man motivated by material greed is capable of far more heinous acts than _any_ Dark Warlord. The darkest sorceries pale in comparison to the horrors of such modern technology."

"This kind of science _is_ fairly new. It's supposed to help people live longer, healthier lives."

"Mortals have no business meddling with the threads of life. When your time comes, it comes. It is not man's right to refuse or prolong their fates beyond their apportioned time."

"Says the guy who died and came back like five or six times!" Ryo snorted angrily, narrowing his eyes. Anubis glared at him sharply. "Yeah, I know it's a low blow, but you went lower. Considering you're the live by the sword, die by the sword type, I'd like to think you of all people would rather live long enough to actually _DO_ it than be wasting away from some illness that couldn't even be treated conventionally." Anubis averted his gaze in contemplation.

"Hmm… I suppose there is merit in saving the lives of those with the capacity for noble deeds…but still, nothing can justify such monstrous applications."

"Oh, I definitely agree with you on that. What we saw _obviously_ isn't its' intended use…"

While the Ronin and guards mingled in the break room, a lone figure stepped outside into the hall and walked over to a water cooler. Jacqueline tugged loose a paper cup and held it under the spigot while she held the red switch down. The plastic tank blurped as air bubbles writhed to the top. She released the switch and stood back up then reached into her pocket. She noticed something out the corner of her eye; a curious reddish-orange color through the transparent blue of the tank. She gasped, startled upon seeing the man leaning against the wall.

"Oh! Goodness…I'm sorry, I didn't think anyone else was out here," she sighed in relief.

"Eh, it's too crowded in there for my taste," the scruffy-looking blue-haired man shrugged and took a sip from a cup filled with cold water. Jacqueline noticed the thick cross-shaped scar on his left cheek. She had fished out a small paper pouch from her pocket and tore off the top, but paused in pouring the contents into her cup and cocked her head to one side.

"It's…Cale…right?" The man nodded. "My sister-in-law's told me a little bit about each of you. You know, I've heard you're still referred to as the Warrior of Corruption. I can't imagine that nets you much fan-mail." Cale chuckled and sipped his water then swished the cup.

"Aww, now I've always felt that word's suffered from such a _negative_ association. Political corruption, law enforcement corruption, corporate corruption…I think I even heard Mia complaining about 'corrupt data' one time… People don't seem to think it can go the other way. I mean, take me for example," he placed a hand on his chest. "Here I used to be a Dark Warlord, happily terrorizing innocents," Cale waved his cup from side to side. "And now look, I've been _corrupted_ by Ryo and his altruism," he waved one hand and nodded to the side.

"Bah hah hah!" Jacqueline threw her head back, laughing richly, her entire body shaking with mirth. Cale smiled and took another sip of his water while she composed herself. "You sound like my PR manager," she grinned and poured dark brown grains of some sort into her hot water. She pulled a small plastic spoon out of her pocket and began stirring, and Cale wrinkled his nose upon detecting an all-too familiar odor.

"Ugh…I don't know how people like you and Anubis can _stand_ that stuff. Must be a young person thing…" he grimaced and looked away.

"So, what? He's the youngest out of a pack of four hundred-year olds?"

"Eh…give or take a few years," Cale grinned and wobbled one hand. Jacqueline found that amusing given that the Elders each looked to be in their mid twenties.

"It helps me stay alert, especially with everything that's happened this week…"

"Well, I'd imagine the possibility of being horribly mauled and dismembered would more than suffice, but that's just me," he commented. Jacqueline shrugged and took a sip out of her coffee. "…so…where does your name come from? If I'm not mistaken, your family's of Irish descent and Jacqueline is French." She glanced at him then tapped her fingers against her cup.

"You're partly correct, but I wasn't named because of nationality. My father named me after a very influential woman from American history…he told me I was destined to do great things, and I did everything possible to fulfill those expectations. At least, until recently…" Jacqueline frowned and set her back against the wall. Cale took another sip of water then rest one elbow on the top of the water cooler and moved so the cooler no longer separated them.

"I have to ask…-and I don't mean to come off as offensive or anything-but given everything that's happened over the past few days, do you regret pursuing such a line of work?"

Jacqueline raised her cup with one hand while she folded her other arm over her stomach. "I actually get asked that quite a lot. You know, in ancient times-probably the time you come from-what we consider modern medicine now was thought of as heretical. People thought any illness you suffered was a punishment sent by the gods and that you had to lump it or leave it. Of course, doing either usually meant _dying_. My take on everything has always been if life isn't worth saving," she looked at him, their eyes meeting. "It sure as hell isn't worth living."

* * *

"You'll be divided into four teams of five tasked with providing cover for each side of the grounds. We have to assume the enemy will attack from all sides, so with that in mind all exits have been sealed off with the exception of the main doors on each side. The remainder of the security forces will be dedicated to protecting civilian personnel, but our objective is to ensure the enemy never gets that far," Chief Perry shouted instructions to the hand-picked guards gathered in the conference room. He pointed at marked locations on the large map of the facility being projected onto a canvas screen. All the while, the ten Ronin stood at the back wall of the room and listened for their assignments.

"Wildfire, Strata, and Venom will be stationed by the west wall. Halo and Cruelty have north wall, while Hardrock and Illusion have south." Dais and Kento grinned at each other upon hearing that. "Typhoon, Torrent, and Corruption will be posted by the east wall. Remember, under no circumstances are you to engage the enemy in close range combat. Your role is to provide support only. Leave the fighting to the Super Troopers."

"Samurai Troopers, you _ass_!" Tanya hissed angrily. Ryo shushed her.

"These darts are powerful enough to knock out a buffalo and have a diamond-coated tip designed to pierce whatever scales, hide, or carapace our expected arrivals may have developed. Keep in mind we have a limited amount of ammunition. There should be enough to last through the siege, but make every shot count. Our intent is to subdue and contain the enemy, not kill them. Now, everyone head to your posts!" With that, the meeting dispersed as guards collected their rifles and reinforced riot gear. Ryo leaned away from the wall and headed for the exit.

"You heard him. Let's move out, and remember, use non-lethal force," he instructed before leaving, followed by most of the younger Ronin. Some of the Elders looked rather dismayed by the edict. Then Anubis paused on his way out and looked over his shoulder.

"He didn't say 'non-painful'," he noted craftily and smirked. The Elders grinned in delight.

"These guys are pretty geared for working at a civilian corporation…" Rowen commented as he walked outside to the barricade constructed by the stairs leading up to the west entrance.

"We were originally intended to keep an eye on employees; making sure no one took unauthorized breaks or stuck gum under the microscopes. Now Jackie's had to upgrade us into her personal army," Chief Perry explained as he carried metal boxes with military markings. He loaded his rifle with several rounds of darts while the Ronin summoned their respective armors.

"How can you be so sure they'll attack here? The Dynasty traditionally doesn't kill mortals since they prefer slaves to siphon power from," Sehkmet asked.

"They have every reason to since we have the resources to potentially nullify their creations." Sehkmet seemed to accept that answer and walked out onto the curb. Rowen leapt onto a cement pillar at the top of the steps. Perry squinted at Ryo then glanced to Rowen and Sehkmet. "Um…if you don't mind me asking, why does Ryo's armor look different from yours?"

"The Lion AnimArmor uses darts loaded with powerful tranquilizers as a primary weapon. They typically don't work on your average tin can, but they might come in handy here."

"Wow. Your armors can do that?"

"_His_ can."

Dais leapt to the top of a lamppost in the parking lot and stood straight, surveying the area. Kento, on the other hand, wandered about the steps. He paused when he saw the crude barricade guards were assembling at the top. "…Sandbag wall? Are you serious? Ugh…" he shook his head and walked over. The guards didn't react when he tapped the concrete with one end of his bo and started dragging it over the surface. They did, however, stumble back in surprise as the ground split and began rising infront of the barricade. Within seconds a wall nearly two feet thick had formed. Kento turned around and walked away slapping his hands together.

Cye and Cale had already armored up and prepared for action, but Tanya seemed unable to decide which weapon to use. She drew out her swords, but the keen edges and spiked pommels ruled them out. Daggers? Nope. Chakaram…definitely not. She sheathed them all and sighed heavily as she examined her blade launcher.

"Somehow I feel you might not be in this predicament if your facilities weren't located in the absolute middle of nowhere," Sage commented and readied his sword.

"Well, the dry heat and lack of civilization makes it harder for ignorant namby pamby protesters to picket us," a guard replied.

"Ahh."

Back on the west side, Chief Perry examined the horizon with a pair of hi-powered binoculars. He lowered them then raised them again upon spotting a distant sand plume. "We got incoming…Rowen," the Warrior of Air snapped to attention. "You mind firing a warning shot?"

"Sure." Rowen nocked an arrow and carefully took aim.

"You think he can make the shot?"

"That far away? Not a chance. It's physically impossible." Rowen paused when he heard some of the guards by the barricade chattering. He looked at them out the corner of his eye.

"I can see the sand on the horizon, but there's no way he could actually hit a target."

"At that distance the shot would lose momentum and drop into the desert." Rowen wrinkled his face in embarrassment that they continued to talk about him as if he somehow couldn't hear them. He sighed and focused back on the shot then released the string. The guards quieted down as the golden bolt shot into the distance, arcing high and leaving a trail of glittering sparks. Perry watched through his binoculars as the arrow struck the roiling wave of sand.

The very very faintest of high pitched yelps reached their ears from the horizon and the wave seemed to buckle in the middle. Then it thickened and began moving faster. "It would seem the warning's been disregarded…" Rowen said and nocked another arrow.

"Duly noted. All squads prepare for combat!" Perry barked into his radio.

"Hostile forces closing in!" a guard by north wall shouted.

"Excellent! My blade thirsts!" Anubis growled. The guards threw him nervous glances. Anubis noticed and blinked. "Ahh…for battle…not blood, of course…"

Ryo held his shield out to the side and tensed, rising on the balls of his feet and leaning forward slightly. The guards' eyes widened when they saw the lion tail attached to Ryo's backside start swishing in anticipation. Sehkmet scowled when he heard the chorus of snarls, barks, hisses, chitters, and howls from the horizon. Rowen let off a few shots at a distance beyond the capacity of the guards. Three creatures collapsed to the ground with arrows poking out of their legs. The rest of their three-hundred plus cohorts charged forward.

Ryo raised both arms and fired off six shots. The darts split into sections then spread out like claws and latched firmly onto the bodies of their targets. The fine but strong needles at the center punctured their exteriors, administering the powerful drug into their bloodstreams. They staggered to a halt then collapsed face first into the ground. The horde spread to either side.

"They're coming in for a surround!" Perry relayed to the other teams as the battle began.

* * *

Inside her office, Jacqueline O'Connor sat at her desk and sorted folders and put them into drawers. On the computer panel on the left corner, a red light blinked under the label "Unauthorized Access" for the server banks. She pushed back her chair and stood up then proceeded to slip off her high-heels and slip on some rather plain-looking garden shoes. She then slipped off the tailored blazer-worth more than what some employees earned in a week-and draped it over the back of her chair. Then she turned around and walked over to a mirror on the wall. She flipped it to one side, revealing a wall safe, and punched in a sequence of numbers then opened the door. She reached inside and grabbed a hold of something then pulled it out.

"I've always considered myself to be more of a hands-on person…" she muttered and shut the safe then swung the mirror back into place. She looked at her reflection then straightened the sleeves of her blouse and turned around and walked out of the office.

* * *

"You have to understand!" Sage shouted between leaps as he dodged the wild slashes of a mutant. "I have no interest in harming you!" The creature lunged again. "But you seem to have a rather unhealthy interest in killing me!" Sage kept his blade behind him. Unlike the victim Gary, these mutants apparently gave in to their baser instincts. Sage grit his teeth then swung his blade up, but buried the tip into the ground instead of the creature's flesh. "PEIRCING RADIANCE!" The blade pulsed with soft green light before sending brighter waves exploding in all directions, blinding any mutates nearby. While they clamped paws over their eyes, the guards rained darts into the throng. "I knew you'd see my side of the argument," Sage smirked.

"WEB OF DECEPTION!" The crescent-shaped extensor blades struck the ground and shot webbing that ensnared several mutants. "Struggle all you want! You won't be able to-" Dais paused gloating when the mutants started shredding through the typically durable webbing. "Crap." Then, just as the creatures tore free, darts struck them directly and they collapsed into unconsciousness. Dais landed on the ground and looked over his shoulder at the barricade. "Wow, I never thought I'd see the day when mortals would actually prove to be useful."

"…was that a compliment?" one guard asked. His nearby companion shrugged.

While Cye smacked mutants into submission with the shaft of his trident, and Cale bashed their faces with the hilt of his sword, Tanya had to resort to firing blades. However, instead of returning to the launcher, some of them had lodged into the thick hides/shells/exoskeletons. Eventually none of the blades returned. Tanya fired her grapple line and tried using it like a whip, lashing out and striking mutants in the face with the bladed tip. The tactic worked until one bold mutant grabbed the line and held it tight. It growled and tugged just so, and Tanya squawked in protest as the launcher itself popped out of its socket and slid off her arm.

The ursine mutant tossed the limp cord and launcher to the side and stalked towards the Lady Ronin. It ran a thick pink tongue over yellowed fangs and splayed its' claws. Tanya reached for a sword but stopped herself, remembering why she'd abandoned using them in the first place. The creature came closer, and Cye and Cale looked too occupied to intervene. It leered at Tanya with glittering dark eyes. Tanya flexed her fingers and tensed, moving back a step. A rattling growl escaped the slavering jaws. Tanya clenched her fists and took a deep breath.

She placed her full weight on her right foot and lashed out with the left, striking the mutant in the crotch. It cried out in pain, but it didn't end there. Tanya lashed out with her right foot as she swung her left leg back down, using a modified Windmill Kick to strike the mutant in the crotch repeatedly. It finally sank to the ground, gurgling in pain just before three darts struck it in the back. Tanya seemed pleased with the result and turned around to take down another mutant in similar fashion. Cye noticed and raised an eyebrow, grimacing.

"…What kind of fighting style do you call _that_?"

"Break Dancing!" Tanya called back as she continued to throttle mutants between the legs.

"Yeah…yeah you're…you're breaking stuff allright…"

Sehkmet slashed at mutants, barely grazing their skins, but not long after suffering such shallow cuts, the wounded mutants collapsed. "Hey! Sehk, what did we say about deadly force!" Rowen shouted. Sehkmet looked over his shoulder, annoyed. "Be more careful!"

"I am! My venom can cause enough pain to drive them unconscious." Sehkmet demonstrated by pulling out four of his swords and throwing them forward. The blades stuck into the ground and emitted reddish vapor. Mutants charged through the fog heedlessly, but slowed to a stagger then slumped to the ground, wheezing softly. "See? I know my stuff," Sehkmet looked back at Rowen and stuck his nose in the air matter-of-factly.

Rowen frowned and looked down at his bow. A lot of mutants ran amuck with arrows poking out of various places, and neither of them seemed ready to collapse at any moment. Rowen glanced from the battlefield to his bow then back again. "Hey Sehk, you mind?" he drew six arrows and held them out. Sehkmet turned around and looked at the arrows.

"Sure!" he reached out with one sword and lightly graced the tips with the edge of the blade. Rowen placed the treated arrows to the string and fired off into the horde. The arrows stuck into the thick exteriors as usual, but this time the affected mutants toppled over, unconscious.

"That's more like it!"

While Sehkmet and Rowen hung back by the barricade and kept mutants at a distance, Ryo waded into the fray. He spun about and bashed mutants with his shield, tossing them up and shooting darts at them as they crashed to the ground. His clawnchers reloaded immediately after firing, so he never ran out of ammo. "Whoa! Ryo's a _beast_ on the battlefield!" Chief Perry remarked as Ryo flung mutants behind him as easily as a kitten tossing a yarn ball.

Ryo blinked when he heard a curious sounding howl and turned around to see what looked like a cross between a water buffalo and a snapping turtle. It didn't lunge at him immediately and thumped a hoof on the ground a few times. "…What? You talking to me?" Ryo snorted. The mutant roared again and shook its' horns. "You want a piece of me? All right then. COME AND GET ME!" Ryo yelled, but the way his voice reverberated out of the lion-head helmet made it sound like a roar. The mutant bounded towards him, bellowing as it approached. Ryo could have easily fired darts, but felt the taunt warranted a different response.

He waited until the last second, just as the beast nearly hit him, and rolled onto his back. He thrust up with both feet, catching the mutant in its' soft stomach, then flung it up. As the creature flailed through the air helplessly, Ryo aimed with his lion shield and shot a burst of fire out of the mouth. The mutant yowled in protest and floundered about, trying to extinguish itself as flames crackled away at the fur on its' head and arms. Fortunately for it, the fire burned out.

THEN Ryo pegged it with darts.

Anubis spun about gracefully. His surcoat flared and the coils of his chain whispered through the air singing their song of battle. Their impact on mutants' faces, however, didn't feel as graceful as muzzles crumpled and teeth flew out of their sockets.

"I'm not gonna tell him, _you_ tell him!" a guard elbowed his partner in the ribs.

"No, _YOU_ tell him. It's _your_ idea!" he elbowed him back.

"Hnn…oh allright…but tell my wife and kids I love them," the guard winced nervously. "Um, excuse me! Mr. Osiris? Or Horus, or Ra, or whatever your name is?" It took a few seconds for Anubis to realize they addressed him and he paused with his scythe raised over his head. He looked over his shoulder at the barricade and saw one of the guards with his hand raised in the air. The guard cringed then cleared his throat. "Umm, listen. I don't mean to tell you how to do your job or anything," while Anubis' attention remained on the guard, a mutant tried to tackle him, but fortunately Sage slammed it away with his shoulder. "But could you perhaps be a _tad_ bit more delicate with them?" the guard made a pinching motion with his thumb and index finger. "The eggheads in the labs _do_ expect to restore them eventually, you know."

Anubis glanced forward at the battlefield and raised an eyebrow. He shrugged, feeling the request to be fair and reasonable, and coiled his chain and hung his weapon on his back. He flexed his fingers and prepared to intercept the next attacker. The goat-like mutate bleated a challenge, but choked and squawked as Anubis buried one fist into its stomach hard enough to lift it off the ground. He then reached up and wrapped his fingers around its throat and lifted it overhead. The guards watched amazed as the Ronin Warrior hurled the mutant into the air, sending it arcing up until it landed on its back inches away from the barricade. The mutant blinked in surprise and looked up at the guards. One of them fired point blank, subduing it.

"That works!"

While the siege continued in the defenders' favor, far above the complex, a winged figure observed with disgust. "I don't believe this…the Ronin wouldn't even _BE_ here if that woman wasn't an O'Connor! Well…never send a mutant to do a Demon Warrior's job…"

Sage unleashed another blinding flash and Anubis continued chucking mutants about while the guards tranquilized each and every one. One of them looked up when he saw a shadow sweep over the barricade and gasped as yellow-scaled talons reached down and snatched his rifle right out of his hand then crushed it. "Stupid humans! Why don't you die like you're supposed to!" Black Hawk shouted and wheeled up. Surprisingly enough, the guards with intact rifles aimed and fired. Black Hawk shielded herself with her wings then swept out, sending darts flying back. The guards yelped and barely managed to cover the exposed areas of their bodies before the darts struck, bouncing off their armor. "You don't deserve to fight back!"

Chief Perry paused mid-aim and raised a hand to his radio. He scowled then shot a mutant then reached back up and turned to the side. Rowen noticed his distraction. "Everything allright chief?" Perry didn't answer immediately and raised an eyebrow.

"I'm getting reports that the north wall is being harassed by some sort of _avian_ mutate."

"Isn't that Sage and Anubis' post? Shouldn't they be able to handle it?" Sehkmet asked. Ryo backed up close enough to hear and continued firing darts while Perry listened to the radio.

"If they fall back to engage, they risk letting their position get overrun."

"I haven't seen a flying mutant on this side. First time I heard of that. …What's it…what's it look like?" Ryo asked. Perry's eyes moved from side to side as he listened to the reply.

"They say it's not like the others…more humanoid…female…black feathers, yellow eyes…"

"Black Hawk!" Ryo snarled angrily. The 'mane' of his helmet bristled.

"I'll take care of her! You don't need three on one side," Rowen offered and sprang into the air. The guards watched in awe as his armor flashed and vanished. The sub-armor changed from blue and black to blue and white with cloth swatches along the arms and sides. Then the glowing outline of an eagle appeared and seemed to explode. Blue metal plates latched onto Rowen's body with boots resembling bird talons and a helmet resembling a proud head and curved beak. Wings spread from his shoulders and he flapped once before taking off.

"Wow! How many armors you all have?" Perry remarked.

"Hahhahahahaaaa!" Black Hawk giggled merrily as she dove again, snatching yet another rifle and slashing at a case of ammunition with a feather sword, cutting through the darts inside and spilling the contents within. Anubis hurled his chain at her, but she flapped up out of the way and the claw merely buried itself in the wall. She saw one of the guards struggling with reloading his rifle and grinned. The guard tried to take aim but screamed as Black Hawk grabbed him by his arms with her talons and lifted him up. She flew higher and higher, delighting at the guard's terrified squeals. Then she swung her legs and tossed the guard towards the wall.

The guard flailed through the air, screaming, but before he struck the concrete with fatal force, golden metal talons caught him by his armored vest. His legs dangled over the heads of his comrades as something lowered him back down towards the barricade. The talons released him and the guards looked up to see a second winged form.

"Why don't you pick on a bird your own size!" Rowen taunted and brandished his axes.

"HASHIBA! I'll clip your wings!"

"I'd like to see you try!" with that, the two engaged in heated aerial combat.

"Hey! Troopers! There's a situation at north wall!" Tanya and Cye looked at the guard that spoke up from the barricade. "That bird woman smashed a lot of their tranq guns and ammo, and there's getting to be a back-up of hostiles without anything to bring them down. The two warriors are doing what they can, but they'll need help."

"I'll go. I'm fighting like a third wheel as it is," Tanya volunteered and took a running start before springing to the rooftop.

"Looks like it's just you and me, Cale…uh…Cale?" Cye blinked when he didn't hear a reply and looked to either side. He didn't spot the Elder Ronin anywhere. "…Where did he go?" Before he got an answer, the next incoming wave of mutates caught his attention. "…bother."

Black Hawk shot a hail of knives at the guards by the south barricade. "VOID SURGE!" Rowen unleashed a pulse of energy that crushed and vaporized the feathers. While the two duked it out overhead, Kento enthusiastically struck his attackers down, practically fighting atop a pile of dazed and battered beasts as more swarmed around him. The guards yelped when Black Hawk shot another volley, but Dais created a canopy of webbing to shield them.

The guards by the north barricade were relieved to see the pink-armored female Ronin Warrior join the fight; until they saw her striking any nearby attackers between the legs. They exchanged glances then one of them reached down and pulled something out of a plastic case. "Hey! Lady!...uh, Ronin!" Tanya turned around and looked at them. "Look, I can't help but notice how you seem kinda strapped for a weapon. Here, try this. It might be better for you." Tanya held out a hand and caught the stun gun neatly. She studied it and pressed the trigger to test the charge. A strong current crackled between the metal prongs. She looked over her shoulder just in time to spot a boar-like mutant and pulled her arm back.

The creature yipped and doubled over as Tanya jammed the prongs into its crotch. A rodent-like mutant lunged, and Tanya shocked it between the legs as well. "Wow, you're right! This _is_ more effective. Thanks!" she called and went back to fighting.

"…yeah…don't…don't mention it…" the guard sighed then looked at Anubis. "I take it she's fond of nut shots?"

"Oh you have _no_ idea," the Elder Ronin replied.

* * *

Inside the facility, the halls were empty as all of the civilian personnel had evacuated to reinforced safe rooms along with the rest of the security forces. No guards remained near the cage in Lab 4, as they couldn't be spared, so no one saw the creature named Gary hunkering down towards the lower edge of the bars. He peered intently at the bolts as he used the tip of one claw to unscrew them one at a time. The last bolt popped out and rolled about on the floor. Then Gary reached up and set to working on the bolts on the sides. The bars jiggled slightly then rattled violently as Gary slammed into them, knocking the wall down. He wasted no time bolting out of the lab and into the darkened hallways.

* * *

"Keep it up, men! There's not as many left!" Perry shouted over the radio. On all sides, the Ronin Warriors kept the remaining beasts at bay while Ms. O'Connor's elite guards fired tranquilizer darts. A rhino mutant swayed on its feet as it staggered close to the west barricade.

"You want more? Huh? You freaks aren't so tough, are you? ARE YOU?" a brash guard taunted and moved out from behind the sandbags. The mutant groaned but remained standing as the drugs took longer to work through its system.

"Soldier! Get back to your post!" Perry ordered, but the guard crept forward, firing another dart into the mutant's shoulder. The creature growled and raised its ears.

"I can take you down! You're too slow and too stupid!" Ryo raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder when he heard the voice. His eyes widened when he saw the guard so far out.

"What the heck are you doing? Get back! Get away from that thing!" The guard ignored him as well and fired a third dart, but the mutant still didn't go down. It sank to one knee, and the guard moved close enough to reach out and shove it.

The rhino-beast bellowed in rage and lashed out with one arm, knocking the guard onto his backside. The guard gasped and tried to wriggle away as the creature lumbered towards him. It raised one heavy foot to crush the guard's head like a tomato.

Ryo sprang between them and shot a blast of fire, not enough to burn it, as it had very little fur, but enough to disorient it. It finally succumbed to the drugs, but Ryo crouched down over the guard. "GET. BEHIND. THE BARRICADE," he growled through clenched teeth. Somehow, the way the visor of the lion helmet hung over his face made him seem more terrifying than any mutant, and the guard nodded shakily then scrambled back to safety.

Cye fired high pressure bolts through attackers' shoulders and hips, barely managing to avoid seriously wounding them and instead only hobbling them, but they began to bear down from all sides. At some point, Cale had abandoned him, and Tanya had left to assist the north wall, so now Cye alone stood between the enemy and the entrance. A feline mutant raised one arm to strike at Cye's unarmored neck. Before the claws connected, however, a burly brown-furred form slammed into it and flung it back. Cye blinked in bewilderment as a canine mutant grabbed a crocodile mutant by the neck and punched it in the muzzle. He took aim at the newcomer.

"NO! Don't shoot! He's one of ours!" a guard shouted and waved his arm frantically. Cye glanced at him then at the canine. It took a few seconds, but he recognized the blue uniform and plastic name tag. The creature used its strength to drive the enemy back.

"…I'll take any help I can get," Cye shrugged.

By now, the assaulting forces had dwindled from a few hundred to a few dozen. The blood-frenzy that had driven the creatures before quickly gave way to uncertainty and hysteria as the defenders struck down more and more of them. On the south side, webbing stretched over the ground and wrapped snugly around squirming mutates. They roared in protest, but fell quiet as Kento walked by and bopped them in the head with his bo. "Hush you," he scolded.

"Hey Chief! You have any fire extinguishers on hand?" Ryo hollered.

"Inside. Why?"

"You might wanna have your guys go fetch'em. I'm gonna try something. Sehk, cover me!" Ryo crouched and pounced towards the wall. Sehkmet threw down his swords, but this time the creatures had the sense to stay back until the vapor dispersed. At the same time, Ryo scampered up the wall nimbly until he reached the roof's edge. He tensed then sprang away, somersaulting midair. The thick plates of his helmet rose and the edges glowed with heat. "FLAMING ROAR!" Ryo dove into the mass and fire erupted in a ring from where he landed. The flames looked-and sounded-like a roaring male lion. Mutants spun about wildly and rolled on the ground trying to put out the fire licking at their skin and scorching their fur.

"WHOA! Hurry up and put out those crispy critters before they get crispier!" Perry exclaimed and the guards abandoned their rifles in favor of fire extinguisher tanks. Ryo and Sehkmet stood by as the guards moved out and blasted the mutants with thick white vapor. As the mutants gurgled and groaned, Ryo shot darts at them.

"Looks like that's all for this side. We better go check out the other posts," Sehkmet said.

"That does it! SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" Cye took aim and sent forth a roiling wall of water that tossed the attackers into the air before dropping them down on the sodden earth.

"Wow…I think you just filled the state's precipitation quota for the next ten years," a guard remarked as they moved out and shot any conscious mutants. Gary grunted, impressed.

"HYAAAH!" Tanya drew out her swords and blasted not only mutants into the air, but loose darts that had fallen when Black Hawk destroyed the guns. The mutants landed on the ground with darts poking out from their bodies and mouths hanging open in a drugged stupor.

"Impressive. Just think of all the sensitive parts you managed to save," Anubis complemented. Tanya looked about and frowned. Then, as if in afterthought, she kicked an unconscious mutant in the crotch. Anubis sighed and rubbed his brow with his fingertips.

"Hey! British guy says the east wall is cleared!" a guard announced.

"His name's Cye you censored!" Tanya snarled.

"…that supposed to be Japanese for something?" a guard whispered while the other shrugged.

Some of the webbed mutants by the south wall had managed to break free and tried to resume their attack. A badger mutant squawked in worry as its companions dropped beside him until only it remained. It came to a stop upon seeing not only Ronin Warriors arrayed against it, but armed guards as well. "It is within your right to surrender peacefully if you so choose," Chief Perry stated. The badger's eyelids twitched and it shuddered. Then it narrowed its eyes and threw back its head and roared an echoing challenge.

*BZZT* *THWIP* *THUNK* The badger jerked from the multiple impacts then uttered a single faint croak before toppling backwards with several claw and gun darts stuck in its chest.

"AAAAUUGH! Cochran's pets were _USELESS_!" Black Hawk shrieked and turned to leave. Rowen rose to pursue.

"Let her go." Rowen paused and looked down at Ryo. "She's lost more than just this battle."

"Allright, let's pack'em up and get them to the containment cells," Chief Perry ordered. With the battle now over, the Ronin used their strength to assist the guards and the medics that had emerged from the building with restraining the mutants to be carried off.

"It's rather ironic if you think about it; these poor souls thought they could win freedom by throwing their lot in with the Dynasty, yet they only succeeded in enslaving themselves," Anubis commented as he detached lengths of his chain to bind those mutants who had slowly begun to regain consciousness. The medics watched wide-eyed as Dais dispensed a seemingly endless stream of webbing to wrap around arms and torsos.

"I'm impressed by the lack of severe injuries," a medic remarked as he examined unconscious mutants. Kento walked up behind him and flicked his fingers over his chestplate.

"Yeah, it was nothing. I managed to-" he began in a bragging tone.

"Though it looks like some of the others got a bit careless. There's several here that look like they'll needed to be treated for concussions," the medic complained as he peeled back eyelids and pointed a penlight into unresponsive eyes. Kento scratched the back of his head.

"Uhh…yeah…no idea how that happened…"

"And several more will have to be treated for electrical burns and blunt force trauma to the _crotch_…" the medic mumbled. Neither of the two seemed to notice Tanya walk behind them whistling merrily as she reattached her retrieved grapple launcher to her arm.

"You gonna have enough room to keep all these guys in check?" Ryo asked Chief Perry.

"Keeping them drugged won't be difficult. As you might know, a few decades ago we were quite the paranoid bunch. This facility overlaps with a large bomb shelter complex. There's enough space down there to accommodate the population of a small town."

"Hey! Ryo! What the bloody hell gives!" Ryo frowned and looked over his shoulder. "What's the use of telling us to work as a team and support each other when your bloody support decides to bugger off on you without warning?" Cye argued. The mutate Gary followed behind him.

"What are you talking about?"

"Cale! Good-for-nothing-I was by myself half the battle! This chap here ended up being more helpful," Cye jerked a thumb at Gary. A nearby guard looked up at him nervously.

"Nice doggie…" he squeaked. Gary glared at him and growled menacingly.

"If you needed backup, why didn't you say something? I coulda come back to help," Tanya brought up upon hearing the argument.

"I didn't realize he was missing until after you'd left."

"Hold on now; Cale may be the shadowy type, but he wouldn't forsake his comrades without reason. Maybe he went to help one of the other posts," Sehkmet said defensively.

"Then where is he?" Cye demanded. They glanced about, trying to spot the Warrior of Shadow. Ryo frowned and saw Sage and Rowen off to one side and Kento and Anubis on the other, but no Cale. He thought maybe the warrior's armor might blend in with the bodies of the mutants, but surely the bright red cape would have stood out. Ryo's worry deepened.

"HEY! HAS ANYONE SEEN CALE?"

* * *

Lazro Cochran placed the last of the downloaded discs into a jewel case then placed the small stack of five into his briefcase. He typed in a command to purge the data from the server banks then clicked the briefcase shut. He moved away from the console towards the exit.

Without warning, a silvery cord wrapped around his ankle and tugged hard enough to send him tumbling head over heels. His left cheek struck the floor so hard, the gold-rimmed frame of his glasses bent in half and the right lens popped out. The cord loosened and pulled back as Cochran staggered to his feet shakily. He looked over his shoulder and scowled upon seeing the figure.

"COCHRAN! YOU'LL ANSWER TO ME BEFORE YOU ANSWER TO THE FEDS!" Jacqueline O'Connor roared from where she stood by the opposite door. She held a thick silvery rod in one hand with a shining glass lens mounted on one end and a long tapering silver rope draping out over the floor from the other. "I'll make you _pay_ for what you've done," she snarled.

Lazro smirked and reached up and pulled his glasses off to bend the frame back into shape before replacing them. "Sorry Jackie, but that's not on my itinerary. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have someplace I need to be getting to," he said and stooped down to collect his briefcase.

A streak of yellow light struck the corner of the briefcase, knocking it under a heavy server tower. Cochran looked back up and saw steam rising off the glass lens on the butt of the whip. Jacqueline held it raised like a pistol with the cord coiled in one hand. Cochran chuckled again. "Ohh…you and your little…_family heirloom_…Fine, you want to fight? I'll give you something to fight." Jacqueline tensed as he reached into one pocket and pulled out a tiny metal tube. Lazro put it to his lips and blew. Jacqueline's fury wavered when she heard the rattling growls and saw the towering figures emerge from the shadows of the server room.

"Don't expect these to be anything like your pet janitor! These are hardened convicts, and they're hungry for a bit more than just blood. It was a good partnership while it lasted, Jackie, but I've found more lucrative opportunities," Cochran taunted and slipped out the door. The piranha and stag mutants stepped towards her, snarling and slavering. Jacqueline took a step back and pinched the metal ring around the lens and twisted it slightly.

Hot light burned a hole through the stag's shoulder. It collapsed to the floor when another shot grazed its knee. Jacqueline frowned in worry at a gauge built into the handle of the whip when the lens dimmed. The stag recovered and the piranha's teeth chattered in anticipation.

Jacqueline shook the cord out onto the floor and began lashing the whip up and about. The mutants remained undeterred by the whistling cord as they neared. Jacqueline swung a few more times before lashing out towards the stag. The supple silvery tassel struck the mutant in the muzzle like a fist, almost caving its skull in. The stag fell backwards and clutched its face, but did not get back up like last time. Jacqueline drew the cord back and lashed at the piranha. It raised stubby arms to try and shield itself from successive lashes.

Without warning, it reached up and caught the cord around one arm. Jacqueline cried out as a strong tug pulled the handle right out of her hands. The piranha tossed the weapon to the floor and took a step towards her again. Jacqueline backed up towards the door, but screamed when the mutant pounced and blocked her way. She crept back, trying to find anything to serve as a weapon. The mutant's jaws snapped rapidly as it closed in. Jacqueline took several deep breaths.

As she backed up past a cabinet, something reached out from the shadows and grabbed her, yanking her out of sight. A cold metal hand clamped over her mouth, preventing her from screaming. Jacqueline struggled briefly but stopped when she saw metal instead of scale or hide. She looked up and her eyes widened in surprise at first upon seeing the figure's face. After a moment of study, she recognized the thick cross-shaped scar through the eyehole of the face mask and saw curls of shaggy blue hair under the rim of the helmet.

She relaxed, comforted upon seeing her savior, and glanced back at the mutant as it walked past without seeing them. Jacqueline's heart seemed to freeze and Cale removed his right hand from her mouth, moving his arm down to around her waist. She held her breath as much as she could as the creature waddled away. It turned around once then started sniffing the air with tiny nostrils. Jacqueline swallowed in dread as the beast turned around and looked in their direction.

She glanced down at Cale's left hand when she heard metal creak, and knew from the way he raised the claw blades that he would not hesitate at all to jam them into the creature's face if it came to that. The mutant's unblinking eyes glittered as it came closer and closer.

It cried out and hissed angrily when something sent it staggering to the side. Something struck it again and again, and it wobbled slightly before slumping to the floor. Claws clicked against the tiles as a tall red form entered the room. Light reflected off of metal instead of fur, however, and the figure turned around to examine the room. "You can come out now. It's safe."

"Your timing is impeccable, Ryo. Thanks to you, this wretch will at least still have a face," Cale thanked and stepped out of the shadows carrying Jacqueline with him. She turned around and studied the wall with wide eyes. Somehow, Cale had phased them _into_ the wall.

"You had us worried back there. I wish you'd said something beforehand."

"Well, I suspected that rat Cochran might try sneaking back here." Cale leaned down and scooped something off the floor. "This is quite an impressive weapon…" he remarked as he wound the cord back up, studying what looked to be silver-coated braided leather. "I imagine you might've entirely held your own if you hadn't been disarmed so easily," he said as he handed the coiled whip back to Jacqueline. She smiled and ran her fingers over the handle.

"The cord was a gift to my ancestors…the handle…is a little something I added."

"Chief Perry said there were two missing from the prison victims. These two must've hidden here before the attack started. At least they're accounted for now…" Ryo commented. Jacqueline frowned and began searching about the floor. The two warriors blinked in surprise when she dropped to hands and knees and reached under one of the server towers. She tugged and wiggled something out from under them and hastily examined it. Her fingers flipped the clasps up and she opened the scorched briefcase and pawed through the contents. She then sighed heavily in relief and placed a hand on her chest.

"It's still here…there's still hope…"

* * *

"Mike tells me the prison folk have all been secured, and Gary's lucid enough for us to let him roam freely. Thanks to the data we recovered from Cochran, my team will be able to get to reversing the effects on the affected people so eventually the innocent can resume their lives and the convicts can continue serving their sentences." Jacqueline stood out by the curb with the ten Ronin, who had changed back into their casual wear. "I owe you Ronin Warriors a huge debt, one I might never be able to repay…buuuut, I'll at least try; starting with providing your flight back home. Everything's been taken care of, so you can rest after your long battle," she grinned and gestured to the limo that pulled up into the parking lot.

"Whoo-hoo!" Kento cheered at the prospect of more steaks. Cye raised an eyebrow when he thought he heard a high-pitched cry of dismay coming from the distance.

"We're happy to have been able to help, Ms. O'Connor. If you ever need us in the future, don't hesitate to ask again," Ryo said. Jacqueline nodded as the Ronin turned to enter the limo.

"Cale! Wait up!" Cale turned around when he heard his name and saw Jacqueline run up to him. Ryo and Sage paused by the door when they noticed someone missing and saw Cale standing with Jacqueline. The two seemed deeply engaged in conversation.

"Cale? You coming?" Cale glanced at Ryo and held up a finger before looking back at Jacqueline. Sage frowned when he noticed certain things: like the way Jacqueline seemed to duck her head and frequently run a finger over her ear and through her hair. Cale nodded several times and chuckled richly then shrugged. Jacqueline pulled a small embossed card out of her pocket and handed it to him. Cale took it in one hand and pried open the breast pocket of his T-shirt as he turned and walked back to the limo. He threw a toothy grin over his shoulder at Jacqueline, who almost giggled before turning around and walking up the steps.

Ryo kept his eyes on Cale as he jogged towards the open limo door. "Okay, I'm ready," Cale chirped and slipped inside to sit next to Sage. Sage made a face when he saw Cale quietly slip the card into his shirt pocket.

"…What was that?" he asked. Cale glanced at him.

"What was what?" Sage didn't press the issue as Ryo seated himself and shut the door behind him, but something about the twinkle in Cale's eyes and his grin made him very, very, unsettled.

* * *

Lazro staggered through the doorway of the filthiest, skuzziest, loudest dive this side of the interstate. It had been easy enough to convince the bartender that the shiner over his left eye had come from an infuriated lover, who left him a fresh reminder of her wrath. Now out of sight of any imbecilic eyes, Lazro discarded the drunken redneck act and strode towards his car quickly. "Lazro Cochran, I presume?" a thin voice spoke from the shadows close to the gas pump. Lazro whirled around and reached under his jacket for the small sidearm he carried.

"Who wants to know?" he asked warily.

"I assure you, that won't be necessary, Gauraxx Cochran. Our master sent us to retrieve you, as he has great interest in your particular talents." Lazro raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"'Master'? You with the Dynasty? Look I had no idea Jackie'd call in the Samurai Squad-"

"We represent a…_different_…party, one that has yet to present itself openly."

"Our master told us to make you an offer you cannot," a deeper voice spoke, and two tall shapes moved into the faulty yellow light of a lamppost. "And _will not_…refuse…"

Lazro recoiled at first. The orange hide, the spiked shells…definitely the interlocking rows of teeth did it for him. But once he overcame his surprise, his expression changed to one of intrigue.


	13. In Need of ShawnJainie

In Need of Shawn-Jainie

By Mardrena

Ryo, Anubis, Dais, Cye, and Kento occupied various spots in the dining room either leaning against the wall or sitting at the table and watched Shannon as she paced about the floor with her arms behind her back. She promptly looked up when she heard the thump of shoes down the stairs. "BOUT FREAKING TIME! What? You live upstairs yet it takes you fifteen minutes to answer a simple call! Teleport next time!" Shannon tore into Rowen the second after he reached the bottom step. The Warrior of Air blinked and opened and closed his mouth, raising a finger and pointing upstairs while glancing at the others. "SIT!" Shannon pointed to an empty chair. Rowen hastily obeyed, looking cowed from the Guardian's irritability. She took a deep breath.

"Okay, the reason I called you all here is because I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is; you made a good impression with my Aunt Jackie. The bad news is; you made a good impression with my Aunt Jackie, and as a result, she's decided to send my cousin Shainie to spend a week in Japan. Thankfully, Sage is out of town visiting his family. He's entitled to a break, seeing as how he hasn't seen them in quite a while, but given my cousin's… reputation…I feel it is my responsibility to protect others, namely you and you," she pointed to Cye and Rowen. "Dad agreed to put up the funds to send each of you and your girls vacationing to get you out of town and far, far away from the attentions of my cousin."

"Um, Shannon, I'd like to think me and Cye are devoted enough to Roxi and Britania."

"I'd like to think so too, Rowen, but the thing about my cousin is that any girl dating a guy handsome enough to catch her eye tends to suffer…hrm…what's a delicate way to phrase this…" Shannon tapped the tips of her index fingers together under her chin. "'Inexplicable mishaps'," she finished while curling her fingers. Rowen and Cye exchanged nervous glances. "So, to that end, Rowen; you're going camping with Roxi in Hokkaido."

"I am?"

"Yes you are. Here's your tickets. Your flight leaves in six hours. Hope you're quicker getting there than you were waking up." Shannon held out a white envelope to Rowen, who accepted it slowly and scratched his hair before standing up and exiting the room. "Cye, I'm sending you and Brit to Okinawa, because I hear their beaches are awesome." Shannon presented another envelope to Cye, who looked cautious at first. Then his eyes started to water and his mouth spread in a toothy ear-to-ear grin. He sprang forward abruptly and gave Shannon a tight hug before scampering out of the room, clicking his heels.

"Now, for the rest of you single guys who are probably wondering how come you didn't get a present: I need a brave soul among you to volunteer to keep my cousin company; show her the sights, share some conversation, maybe dinner, at least until she leaves at the end of the week."

"What about Cale and Sehk? How come they're not here?" Dais asked.

"I said I need someone to keep Shainie company, not scare the living daylights out of her. I chose Anubis because, in addition to being a battle-hardened veteran, he's also a gentleman and a scholar." Anubis didn't look at all flattered by the remark and remained indifferent. "And you have this sort of swashbuckling debonair look going on," Shannon nodded at Dais.

"Why thanks…wait what?" his eye widened as if in sudden realization.

"So, who's willing to-"

"Whoa, hold on, I can't be a part of this. I'm engaged to Danae!" Dais exclaimed.

"…You are?" Some of the others nodded in affirmation. "oh wow…news to me…well, congratulations. I'm very happy for you. Okay, so that leaves the three of you." Shannon looked at Anubis, Ryo, and Kento expectantly. "Any volunteers?...anyone?" Neither Ryo nor Anubis chomped at the bit while Kento looked at each of them then at Shannon.

"Well, I suppose I'll have to be the one to shoulder this burden," Kento spoke up and rose out of his seat. Ryo and Anubis snorted at the remark and Dais hid a smirk under his hand. Shannon walked over to Kento and took his hand in gratitude.

"Kento, this means the world to me, and I promise you; if you can last the week with Shainie, I'll take you to your most favorite restaurant and _gorge_ you to your heart's content."

"Oh now I gotta see this…" Dais muttered mischievously.

"You sure you wanna make a bet like that? You know about my own reputation…"

"_Believe_ me, this is worth it."

"Don't sweat it, Shannon. Once I work my irresistible charms on your cousin, she'll forget she ever knew another man," Kento boasted. Anubis rolled his eyes while Ryo gagged.

* * *

_*2 hours later…*_

"Oww…oh man…" Kento sat at the dining table holding a hot water bottle against his head.

"Oh my God, Kento! I'm _SO_ sorry for putting you through that! I thought you could handle her! If I'd known…" Shannon blubbered apologetically as she tended to him.

"I thought I could handle her too but…wow…I swear…if I'd spent another minute with her…I think my brain woulda started leaking out of my ears…"

"Wow, I'd pay to see that," Dais said aloud. He winced as the others threw him irritated glares. "Uh, I mean: you poor, poor soul."

"Does this mean I don't get dinner?" Kento asked. Shannon shook her head sadly. "Aww…"

"Now I need someone else…" Shannon drummed her fingertips against her chin. "Ryo, coul-"

"**No**." The Ronin Leader said so firmly, Shannon flinched. Shot that down in Wildfire… Shannon bit her lip and looked at Anubis, opening her mouth to speak, but upon seeing the look he gave her, whatever words she wanted to voice died a lonely, miserable, painful death in her throat. Shannon let her breath out in a shuddering sigh and let her arms hang at her sides.

Dais seemed to be the only one giving the situation some thought, seeing as how Ryo and Anubis remained aloof and Kento looked like he could barely think. "What about Azuro?"

"What about him?"

"Well he's still here, isn't he? He'd make a suitable companion. Just tell him it's a 'special duty' and he'd be none the wiser," Dais shrugged and Shannon frowned in consideration.

"I dunno about that Shannon. I wouldn't feel right about pairing him up with your cousin. No offense, but I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy," Kento commented.

"Really? I'm touched," Dais remarked.

* * *

"Are you sure this over-priced array is functioning properly?" a veteran pilot grumbled in the cockpit. His co-pilot monitored radar screens and computer readouts.

"Infrared and radar readings are going off the charts. This thing is _BIG_"

"So? For all we know, it could be just a distortion in air patterns."

"No…no this is different…it has the same dimensions as the structure spotted in the Toyama Disturbance. You remember the photos, right? Before the first squad went down?"

"Of course I remember. I was on site that day when we were ordered to pull back."

"Instruments don't lie; something's there, I know it."

"Well I can't see squat, and I'm old enough to know to trust only in what your eyes see."

"You're old enough to retire as it is…" Their craft slowly approached the edge of the distortion taking up nearly half the screen, yet the skies themselves appeared clear.

"I'm actually up in a couple weeks…hoping to be there for my daughter when she gets married…" The radar beeped as the screen showed them practically touching the distortion.

The air shimmered and all of a sudden instead of crystal clear blue skies the two pilots found their craft careening towards a massive wall of gray stone.

"LOOK OUT!" "IT'S TOO CLOSE!-" The plane collided with the wall, leaving only a black smudge upon the worked stone and flaming wreckage drifting towards the city below.

"Allright, Buttface, what'd you call me for?" Black Hawk sneered and looked over her shoulder. Bautan growled at the insult but quickly composed himself.

"The offspring of the O'Connor woman from across the sea has recently arrived and I believe she intends to deliver an artifact of great power to the Guardian of the Ronin Cross."

"…Orrr…she could just be visiting…you know…since cousins do that…"

"After the trouble her mother caused, we cannot afford to take the risk. All you need do is seek her out and appropriate whatever treasures she may carry. Come now, Black Hawk. I would assume you of all people would relish the chance to cause harm to the O'Connors…"

"_Shannon_ is _my_ target. I could give a rat's ass about Shainie. I knew her in high school. She's nothing more than a trust-fund tramp! Her mom spends ridiculous amounts of money flying her to a new city every week trying to groom her to take over her company when-if ever- she grows up. She's more likely to carry a germ than some magic doodad."

"Well, think of this as an effort to return to the Master's good graces after your little 'debacle in the desert'," Bautan smirked and floated around to the side of her.

"HEY! I am _NOT_ taking flak for that!" Black Hawk snapped and lashed one arm to the side. "I was sent to observe only. It's not _my_ fault Cochran didn't deliver on his end!"

"In the rare occasion that I happen to agree with you, you are right. Indeed, if Cochran could be located, he would certainly be hanging from his toes in the dungeons, but as it stands, he has apparently dropped off the face of the Mortal Realm. Look, Black Hawk, the concept of 'favors' is as foreign to the Dynasty as the Outworlders. If you would rather I bring the subject to the Master's attention…perhaps have it turned into a direct order..."

"OKAY! Okay!" Black Hawk stalked over to the balcony and placed one taloned foot on the railing overlooking a still smoldering black smudge on the base wall. "But this better not be a wild Me chase," she warned over her shoulder before taking off.

* * *

"Unfortunately, Kento won't be able to join us because of his sudden cold, but I was able to find someone else to keep you company. This is…uh…Azüro, he's visiting from… Sweden." Azuro blinked upon hearing the pronunciation but remained respectfully quiet as Shannon introduced him to the slightly younger, dark blonde girl who seemed utterly enamored with him as she stared up at him with excited green eyes. "So I hope you're not terribly upset with Kento since he had to leave on such short notice…" Shainie looked like she could care less.

"Thank you!" she squeaked as she hugged Shannon abruptly before going back to admiring the Thangien. Shannon looked quite nauseous but regained her composure.

"Well, I have work in an hour, so I can give you two a lift to the city."

"Ah, Shannon, you forget I am as much a stranger to your world as Shainie. I am too unfamiliar with landmarks here," Azuro brought up. Shannon drew in air through her teeth, but Shainie seemed to ignore the use of 'world' instead of 'city'. Azuro looked about the foyer and caught sight of Ryo trying to tiptoe out of the room. "Ryo! Could I employ your experience as a guide?" Ryo flinched upon hearing that and looked over his shoulder.

"Um…you know, I'd like to, but I have to…um…bathe Whiteblaze…who…um…"

"Isn't here…" Shannon growled through her teeth, not wanting to expose Shainie to magical armors or large white tigers. Ryo looked about helplessly, struggling for an excuse.

"Ugh…fine! But I draw the line at holding shopping bags," he grumbled.

"Oh that's fine! I shop memories more than makeup," Shainie giggled.

"I will return shortly," Azuro bowed courteously, causing Shainie to squeal with delight, and walked upstairs to the guest room. Mia happened to be walking past and paused when she spotted Azuro grabbing his sword, Cloudrazor.

"Azuro! Whoa! Stop right there!" Mia ran over and-much to Azuro's shock-snatched the scabbard out of his grasp. "You can't go into the city carrying that around!"

"…MiaTakin, with all due respect, it is considered greatly disrespectful to handle another warrior's weapon without his or her express permission," Azuro growled softly.

"Azuro, I can think of a dozen things you've done in the past week that could be considered disrespectful. My point is: you can't go traipsing around in the city with a sword."

"Why not?"

"Because there are _laws_ forbidding it!" Azuro looked about the room.

"What is this then?" He pulled a wrapped long, narrow object out of a stand by the door.

"It's called an umbrella. We use it to protect ourselves from rain and heat. What about it?"

"Exactly! You use it as protection. For us Thangiens, a sword serves the same purpose."

"Look! Azuro, I'm not going to argue this with you. _Ryo_ would get arrested if he went out in public in full armor because that would be considered carrying an unlicensed weapon."

"So what do you do when it rains and you have no protection? Get wet?"

"Of course not. Humans are more resourceful than that; we find shelter. Azuro, she's Shannon's _cousin_; you're just going to spend a few days with her. She'll probably want to go see a movie, go shopping at the mall…you could do with some sightseeing yourself." Mia held out the scabbard. Azuro took it and sighed heavily before placing it gently atop the bed. "Now head downstairs. Everyone's waiting for you. Honestly Azuro, what could possibly happen?"

* * *

"So I graduated the year after Shannon, top ten percent of my class, but Mom won't send me to college just yet. She wants me to get a 'feel for the world' then she promises to send me to the best business school in the world. I don't mind; I've visited so many places and met so many _cute_ guys…" Shainie giggled. Azuro walked beside her and listened patiently, but a few steps behind them, a sullen Ryo followed with his hands buried in his pockets.

_ If Kento couldn't last two hours with his thick head, there isn't hope for either of us..._

"You look a lot older than Kento or Ryo. What college did you go to?" Shainie chirped.

"College?" Azuro raised an eyebrow and glanced down at her. Ryo grimaced.

"I thought Sweden had one of the best education systems…" Shainie frowned at him.

"Where I hail from, when we come of age we are dispatched into the wilds to dwell in solitude for a cycle, with time as our instructor and the land itself as a study hall. We call it 'freelanding'. Those of us who endure are awarded with rank in their respective Houses. Those who fail…often must attempt the endeavor the following cycle."

"Ohhh!...Kinda like Rumspringa!"

_Oh wow…no wonder Kento couldn't stand her: she's an even bigger airhead than he is…_ Ryo let out a heavy sigh and rolled his shoulders to stretch, not noticing at all the scrawny figure that slid past him along the sidewalk. Shainie readjusted the strap of her purse from where it hung over her shoulder as she continued chatting with the 'cute guy from Sweden'.

"Mom talked _glowingly_ about the friends Shannon made and how they helped her at her facility. Even Uncle Perry was impressed. He's not really my uncle, I just call him that because he's such a nice guy. He actually taught…taught…ah…what?" Shainie felt the curious sensation of weight being taken off of her shoulder and something sliding down her arm. "What…what?"

Ryo's gaze flicked up and he saw a dirty-looking hand wrap around Shainie's purse strap and slowly move it away from her. Things happened quickly as Azuro glanced to the side just as a small figure took off running carrying Shainie's laden purse. "HEY! HEY! STOP! STOP! THAT'S MINE!" Shainie sputtered to no avail. Ryo tensed to give chase, but Azuro darted ahead of him. The thief wove through the crowd deftly, trying to put dozens of people and distance between him and his hapless victim. He looked over his shoulder with a grin that quickly turned to a horrified frown as he saw a tall athletic man barreling towards him like a locomotive.

The thief let out a panicked squeal and sped up, driven by desperation just as fury drove Azuro. Ryo barely managed to keep up, trying to follow Azuro's distinctive blue hair as he bounded after the bold purse-snatcher. His lungs started to ache and he paused for a few moments by a wall. He glanced about to make sure no one saw him as he seemed to shrug his arms. He flexed his fingers, previously bare, now covered with smooth black metal.

"Man, I am _really_ getting out of shape if I have to go armor just to keep up…"

The bandit reached a crosswalk and darted infront of cars, even shoving pedestrians out of the painted lines. Azuro waved his hand through the air to the side then up before thrusting his hand forward with fingers straight like a spade. The thief cried out as he felt something strike him in the back and knock him head over heels. He struggled to get to his feet and tried grabbing the fallen purse but a strong hand grabbed him by the front of his shirt and slammed him back-first against the wall. His scuffed shoes dangled several inches above the ground.

"Ehn pehl gehsa! Naditanyankina! Tuvo en thabbo! Nichratho!" Azuro snarled.

"Hey man…I'm just trying to make a living. I woulda dropped it off after I took the cash…"

"Vitreelas! Nasurin! You would sustain yourself at the expense of others? I will not permit you to perpetuate your _arrogance_!" Azuro pulled his other arm back, splaying his fingers. The thief blinked in confusion as Azuro swung down with his hand.

"WHOA! Azuro, stop!" Ryo arrived just in time to grab Azuro's wrist, stopping the Thangien's hand inches from the thief's crotch. "What do you think you're doing!"

"Unhand me RyoTakin! He must be punished!" Azuro glared at him, and Ryo could sense from his grip that he only restrained him because he wore sub-armor.

"Not by you he doesn't."

"Such a crime should not have been committed to begin with!" Azuro tried to wrench free.

"THIS ISN'T THANGED!" Ryo shouted. Just then a police car drove up to the curb in response to the commotion. "Let them handle it." Azuro relented upon seeing the uniformed officers and released the thief, letting him drop to his backside on the sidewalk.

"Maes huaas faen il tak egiei vthiasak!" Azuro snapped at the scrawny man and stooped down to retrieve Shainie's purse before heading back down the sidewalk.

"He's from out of town," Ryo said to the bewildered officers, shrugging as he hid his hands in his pockets. He remained behind to give a brief statement while Azuro scanned for Shainie.

"Azüro! What happened?" Shainie called as she jogged up to him.

"The fiend has been captured. This belongs to you," Azuro handed the purse over to Shainie, who grabbed it quickly and hurriedly inspected the contents.

"Oh my God…Thank you! Thank you _so_ so much! This has my whole life inside, and I'm not just saying that cuz I'm materialistic or anything-" she threw her arms around Azuro's neck.

"Crime is intolerable where I come from. I merely felt it my duty," Azuro replied.

"I'm not kidding! You really did save my life! Look…I'll show you!" Shainie glanced about and spotted a nearby restaurant. "Come on!" She grabbed Azuro by the wrist and led him through the crowd. Ryo joined them later, and while he appreciated the opportunity to rest his weary legs, it meant he had to listen to an excited Shainie babble.

"Mom gave me this when I graduated. She told me I'd be ready for business school when I filled every page back to back, cover to cover. I graduated high school about a year ago, and I'm not even a fourth of the way done," Shainie explained as she leafed through the pages of a journal. Each page had photos and written notes describing each one. She showed Azuro images ranging from her sitting nervously in a glass bin covered with several snakes to her being accosted by a young goat trying to seek a meal in her rear jeans pocket. Azuro noticed that the majority of photos were taken with Shainie to the side of the frame, rather than at the center, showing more of the background whether it be a distant mountain or humble chapel.

"Now that I think about it, it's sort of like what you told me about back there…'freelanding', using the world as your classroom. Of course, I kinda cheat since Mom pays for my trips."

"It is only proper for parents to support their child," Azuro commented. Shainie bit her lip.

"At least one of them…" she mumbled quietly before closing the journal and slipping it back into her purse. Azuro frowned, sensing she felt troubled. Shainie's gloom vanished as a waiter delivered their meals. "Ohh! Thank you! This is another perk of traveling so much; the food! Here, use some of this." Shainie held out a small plastic tube to Azuro. "You haven't lived until you've tried some." Azuro unscrewed the cap off the tube but Shainie wrinkled her nose in frustration when he only squeezed out the tiniest drop onto his food. Instead of protesting, she stroked her chin craftily. "Hey … Azüro, mind getting us some more napkins?" she pointed to the dispenser by the soda fountain. Azuro stood up and left the table to comply.

Ryo continued staring at the wall despondently until he noticed something out the corner of his eye. He did a double take at Shainie and his jaw dropped in horror when he saw her squeeze out the entire contents of the tube into Azuro's food then mix it in before Azuro returned. Azuro sat down and deposited the napkins on the table then reached for his plate. "Ahhh! Azuro, I wouldn't ea-" As typical of any Thangien, Azuro wolfed down his food before Ryo had a chance to finish his warning. "…oh boy…" Azuro glanced at him as he chewed the last mouthful. Shainie put her elbows on the table and wove her fingers under her chin, waiting.

Azuro stopped chewing abruptly. "It's got quite a kick, huh? Of course, I've kinda built up a tolerance for it, but it's still a shock for the uninitiated." Ryo grimaced when he noticed tears starting to well up in the corners of Azuro's eyes and his cheeks flush red.

"One…two…three…" Ryo counted off under his breath just before Azuro let out a shrill cry that drew startled glances from other patrons in the restaurant. He quaffed his entire drink then bolted from his seat for the drink fountain, stopping just short of sticking his mouth under the water dispenser. Shainie clicked her tongue against her teeth.

"Poor guy. He really needs to get out and see the world more."

"Oh yeah. Totally." Ryo commented in the deadest pan possible. He slouched in his chair and rest his cheek against the back of his hand.

He didn't even blink when one police car drove past outside. The second failed to elicit any reaction, as well as the third. But the fourth, fifth, sixth, and successive fleet of armored police trucks proved sufficient to warrant his attention. "Um…Shainie, if Azuro asks, tell him I had to go outside to check something. I'll be back in a sec," he told her before exiting the restaurant. He made his way down the sidewalk but came to a stop where the crowd milled behind a barricade set up by the police. Officers tried to reassure the crowd until one of the heavy trucks landed upside down close to the barricade. A curved spear with a long black shaft poked out of the side.

"Aw man…figures something like this would happen while three of us are out of town…" Ryo grumbled and headed back to the restaurant. Shainie glanced at him while blissfully finishing her meal. Azuro remained by the drink fountain downing cup after cup of water. "Azuro, listen, there's a Dynasty attack going on further up the street. I'm going to call the others at home and do what I can to buy time until they arrive," he whispered to the Thangien.

"I will help you, then," Azuro said hoarsely.

"No! Your priority is looking after Shainie. Shannon doesn't want her to know anything about us fighting the forces of darkness, and to be honest, neither do I. Do what you can and take her away from the battle. Hopefully we can contain this attack," Ryo said before leaving once again. Azuro sighed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before returning to the table.

"Ryo tells me he has an emergency to tend to. He recommended I take you elsewhere."

"But, he was our guide. How will we know where we're going?"

"Well, one never knows where to go unless someone has ventured there before. And even they do not know where they travel until they actually go there."

"So…we'll do some freelanding then," Shainie grinned. Azuro smiled at her as they left the restaurant. Azuro glanced worriedly over his shoulder when he heard the distant battle but Shainie seemed too focused on street signs to notice. "My Japanese is _bad_…um…I _think _there's a mall a few blocks down. We should totally get you some new clothes."

"Why?"

"Well, not that I object to seeing your well-made physique, but you kinda look like you just got off from a gym."

"I normally wear a coat over this, but Mia deemed it inappropriate for this outing."

"And I'm guessing you're too big to borrow from anyone else. Well, I'm sure they'll have something that suits your style." They eventually found the mall and despite the language barrier, Shainie's innate shopping sense led them to the men's department where she proceeded to evaluate potential outfits for Azuro. "Oh wow, you're all neck and shoulder up here," she commented as she held up a large T-shirt to Azuro's upper torso.

"Why would I be otherwise?" Azuro asked. Shainie merely grinned at him. "I appreciate the gesture, but all this is fairly unnecessary," he glanced at the growing pile of shirts and pants.

"Oh nonsense. I don't shop as much for myself but I know how to shop for others. It never hurts to have a few extra outfits."

"Where I come from we only wear one, with variations depending on special occasions."

"What? You really only ever use one set of clothes? Oh my gosh, that's awful. I couldn't imagine wearing the same thing year round!"

"Well, each outfit is unique to its wearer and custom designed to suit their personality."

"I guess it saves on laundry but you gotta admit it must get a little dull." Shainie paid for the clothes and the two left the clothing store with Azuro wearing loose-cut jeans and a T-shirt with a flaming comet print across the sleeves and front pocket. "So where's your name come from? Azüro sounds kinda unconventional for a Swede. Then again mine's unconventional period. Mom wanted to call me Shawn and Dad wanted to call me Jainie, so they compromised and named me Shainie…kinda the one thing they agreed on…" Shainie trailed off.

"My father said it reminded him of flying…He flew aircraft in one of this world's largest wars and died as one of my people's greatest heroes."

"Oh wow…you talk very highly of your dad…"

"I notice you talk very little of yours…"

"Well…he's done very little to inspire any respect in me…" Azuro glanced about and spotted an ice cream shop and steered toward it. Shainie seemed more than ready to vent the frustrations she'd kept penned up over a large sundae. "When I was a little girl, Mom wanted to go into business to make a difference…but my Dad didn't care about changing the world for the better. When Mom wanted to wear the daddy pants, he got all upset and filed for divorce.

"I didn't see him for years after that… I kinda missed him back then because I didn't understand why they split up. Then three years ago he pops up out of the blue. I thought he and Mom were gonna get back together, and I was so happy at first. But then I found out he didn't want to remarry. He wanted sole custody of me and tried to claim Mom was an unfit parent just because she worked. Pfft…not like he would've done any better. He didn't even _have_ a job. Thankfully the judge threw the case out. Mom was so furious she filed to have our names legally changed back to O'Connor afterward. I haven't talked to him since."

"A man like that had no business being your father."

"Yeah…but then I wouldn't have been born," Shainie chuckled.

"No. I mean he should not have paired with your mother in the first place. Where I come from a pairing is not merely a convenient agreement, but a deep and abiding union; a pact written in flesh and signed in blood. It is forged out of love and mutual respect."

"Exactly! Whatever happened to 'till death do we part'?" Shainie shoveled some more spoonfuls of ice cream into her mouth then swallowed. "You know…I think you're the first guy in years I've told that story to. Not many of the guys I date talk back. Course that might be because I talk too much…" Shainie admitted and shrugged.

"You exhaust yourself eventually. One needs only be patient enough," Azuro grinned. Shainie giggled so much she almost snorted ice cream. Azuro smiled, feeling a rare respect for Shannon's cousin. He frowned when he heard a loud crash from elsewhere in the mall. "Excuse me for a moment," he said and stood up and leaned out of the door. His eyes widened when he saw a fully-armored Kento crash into a rock fountain in the middle of the mall.

"Nothing to see here people, move along," Kento announced dazedly then charged forward to grapple with several Dynasty Soldiers that infiltrated the mall.

"Aiiee, I know Ryo said to navigate away from the battle, but it seems like the battle is following us," Azuro hissed to himself. He went back into the shop where Shainie finished the sundae. "We should leave. I recommend finding a different exit."

"Oh I agree. The crowds on the street are terrible. We can probably leave through the parking garage. I think I have an idea of where it is." Azuro followed her lead as she thankfully moved away from the commotion. Azuro opened the door Shainie identified as leading to the parking garage and held it open for her. "There should be an exit further down the ramp-"

A large bulky figure moved out from behind one of the concrete support pillars and stepped towards them. Shainie recoiled, startled, but Azuro recognized it as a Dynasty Soldier. It reached out to grab her, but Azuro roared in anger and lunged, aiming to grab it by the face.

Metal sprang out from the shadows and Azuro grunted as he found his right wrist pinned to the wall under the tines of a spear. He reached up to pull it away, but froze when the tip of another spear hovered by his throat. "Still yourself, Outworlder. Oddly enough, we are not here to kill you just yet. We come for whatever treasures the girl carries."

"We know you possess an item of great power. Hand it over, and perhaps we will not kill you after all," the initial soldier demanded. Shainie looked more confused than afraid and reached into her purse. She pulled out something narrow and black and held it out shakily. The soldier snatched it out of her grasp. "Thank you. As a reward for your submission, you may live."

"What about the Outworlder. He has caused enough trouble, we should kill him now."

"No. The honor of his death does not belong to us. We will spare you for the time being. Come, we must deliver this to Black Hawk with all due haste." The second soldier tossed its spear to the first one before dislodging its own from the pillar. Azuro massaged his wrist and glared at the soldiers as they ran off. Shainie watched them leave before looking at him.

"Am I wearing a T-shirt that says 'mug me' or something? That's the second time today!"

"It will be the last," Azuro snarled, looking ready to give chase and pummel the attackers.

"Oh don't worry. They didn't get anything valuable. I'm sure of it," Shainie assured, remarkably calm. "Okay we better get out of here. I think I'd rather chill out at the hospital until Shannon gets off her shift. It shouldn't be too far, and I remember enough landmarks from when she picked me up from the airport to find it." Shainie resettled the strap of her purse and took off walking, oddly enough unshaken by the assault. Azuro followed close behind, wanting to shield her from any future attacks, for he knew they hadn't seen the last of the enemy.

* * *

"Finally! Took you long enough. Did you find it?" Black Hawk demanded from where she stood in an alley. The two soldiers that had attacked Shainie knelt before her.

"We retrieved the artifact as you requested, but the Outworlder male accompanied her."

"We left them untouched, but surely this item must possess great power for this mortal girl to warrant his protection," the second soldier held up the small black object. Black Hawk took it and studied it. "Perhaps it contains a spell or information her mother wishes to provide to the Ronin-" The first soldier jumped and watched wide eyed as Black Hawk drew a feather sword and buried it all the way through the helm and into the chest of the second soldier.

"You _IDIOTS_! This is a woman's compact! You spent the past thousand years trying to take over the world and you don't even know what a makeup case looks like! Get _BACK_ there and find what the girl's carrying. _NOW_!" she screamed. The soldier took off running, accompanied by two others to replace the slain one. Black Hawk glowered down at the compact and gripped it tightly, debating whether to crush it in frustration.

Then she turned it over and got a better look at the brand name before pocketing it in her battle armor. "At least the O'Connor brat has good taste…"

* * *

"There we go! I hope you don't mind chilling in the lobby reading magazines. I don't think Shannon gets off for another couple hours," Shainie said as they approached Shinasha Memorial.

"I wish we could have explored more, but today seems to not favor idle venturing."

"No kidding. Reminds me of this one time in-" Shainie didn't get the chance to begin her story as the diced up remains of an empty metallic husk crashed to the ground right at their feet.

"You fools are slacking! Under _MY_ command, you were far more formidable!" Anubis taunted and hurled his chain across the street and through the torso of another Dynasty Soldier.

"You censored pieces of censored! They'll render you into mailboxes when I'm finished!" Tanya screamed and lopped off arms and legs with no abandon, almost becoming obscured by the thick fog pouring out of slain Dynasty Soldiers.

"Oh wow, what are they doing here? This an action-movie shoot?" Shainie glanced about.

"Azuro? What the heck are you doing here? I told you to move away from the battle!" a black-haired man wearing silver and red armor shouted.

"RyoTakin, this is getting out of hand! Let me help you!"

"No! Get Shainie out of here. I think they're after her!"

"Is…is that…Ryo?" Shainie squinted at the man as he ran off, swords drawn.

"Come. We must leave," Azuro grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away from the scene, but not before she fished her camera out of her purse and took a picture of Ryo.

"I didn't know he was into cosplay." Azuro took them towards a network of overpasses, hoping to find shelter in the shadows. They didn't make it far before two Dynasty Soldiers sprang into their path to block them.

"Shainie! Flee!" Azuro screamed. Shainie wasted no time bolting as the soldiers approached.

"Hah! The Outworlder has neither his mount nor his weapon!"

"We were not ordered to slay you, but we might as well and spare the Master any further trouble from you." The soldiers brandished their weapons. Azuro narrowed his eyes angrily.

Shainie jogged down the sidewalk, trying to flag down a taxi but the battle seemed to have driven away all traffic. She gasped and almost fell back as another armored figure leapt infront of her. "You will not escape me, girl! Give me the artifact, now!" the soldier growled.

"Okay! Okay! Fine! You got me! Just, here! Take it, please! Just please don't kill me!" Shainie blubbered and reached into her purse and pulled out a small pink object. The soldier snatched it right out of her hand and took off running. Shainie dried her cheek with her shirt. "Wow…those guys are _thick_ and I'm not talking about their armor…" She shrugged then glanced about to get her bearings before walking away, not noticing the bulky shadowy figure crouched in the beams of the overpass. She froze when she heard a metallic creak and barely got a glance of her attacker before something struck her in the shoulder and sent her tumbling to the side.

"Crafty woman! You will not fool me!" The blow had stunned Shainie and she slumped against the wall, barely conscious while the soldier rifled through her purse with its back turned to her. "If there is something of value here, I will find it!"

Church organs and school bells rung in her ears and her focus shifted in and out as her cheek rest against the concrete. She heard clicks and thunks as the soldier fished out several of her possessions and chucked them carelessly onto the sidewalk. Her camera-thankfully in its cushioned case-bounced once before tumbling close to her knee. Her journal landed pages-first, and some of the pictures bent from being pressed down. Toothbrush, comb, chap-stick, wallet, all of these clattered to the concrete. Her wallet landed in such a way it sat open, displaying her driver's license in one side and a picture in the other of her younger self and a sickly looking boy.

"Get…your hands…off…of my stuff…" Shainie wheezed. The soldier didn't hear her and continued searching. "That stuff…is mine…" The soldier continued to disregard her as she shakily pushed herself to her knees. She spotted a length of metal pipe from where it lay discarded, apparently originally part of a signpost. She crept her fingers towards it and grabbed it, pulling it towards her. The soldier didn't respond to the faint sound of metal whispering against the concrete or of shoes scraping as Shainie rose to her feet. "No one…touches…my stuff." Shainie growled and gripped the pipe so tightly, her knuckles went white. She narrowed her eyes and clenched her jaw. The soldier grunted and looked over its shoulder.

"NO ONE! TOUCHES! MY STUFF!" Shainie screamed and swung the pipe across the soldier's face. The soldier staggered back, and Shainie swung again. "NO ONE!" She struck it again. "TOUCHES!" The soldier bumped into one of the support pillars. "MY STUFF!" Shainie shrieked and swung up then down, bringing her full weight into the blow. The pipe buried itself into the soldier's head, crumpling the helmet almost into the chest plate itself.

Shainie shuddered with rage and stood there with her eyes wild and furious and her lips pulled tight over her gums. She panted several moments then blinked, looking almost uncertain. Then she saw her hands gripping one end of the pipe, and the other buried snugly into a pile of metal that looked more like a stomped soda can than a samurai helmet. "Oh my god…ohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Shainie dropped the pipe and knelt infront of the unmoving body. "What have I done! Ohmygodohmygod. Mister? Mister! Are you allright! Ohmygod! I didn't mean to hit that hard! Please tell me you're allright!" Shainie slipped her fingers under the rim of the helmet and pulled at it.

The smoking husk of the last soldier crumpled to the pavement, and Azuro chucked the helmet to the side and dusted his palms off. "Nasurin," he snorted angrily and looked over his shoulder, searching for Shainie. He spotted what looked like her silhouette under the overpass.

"Please tell me I didn't kill you!" she blubbered and gradually pried the helmet off. Instead of a person, however, she found only a smoking empty shell. "GYAAH!" Shainie leapt to her feet and stumbled back, bouncing the helmet up and down in her hands before letting it drop to the pavement. She clamped her hands over her mouth then moved her fingers down to her neck. "Who…what _are_ these guys?" she stared at the 'corpse' wide-eyed.

"Agents of the enemy." Shainie looked to the side when she saw Azuro approach. "I have heard your mother earned their ire recently, and I believe because of your association with her and Shannon, they perceive you as an equal threat." He knelt down and carefully gathered Shainie's belongings along with her wallet, pausing briefly to study the picture of a young girl with thick blonde hair and a younger boy with hardly any. He placed them back into her purse then stood up and held it out to her. "Come. We must find shelter," he said ran off. Shainie shuffled after him before breaking into a jog and eventually catching up, running alongside him.

"You're not from Sweden, _are_ you?" She glanced at him and raised an eyebrow.

"Your cousin doesn't tell you much, does she?" Azuro glanced back and frowned. Shainie rolled her eyes and shrugged.

"Apparently not."

* * *

"Mistress Black Hawk! I alone have returned victorious! The others perished, but I was able to extract the artifact from the troublesome mortal woman," the lone survivor of the group she'd dispatched held up a soft pink-colored object. Black Hawk took it and examined it. "Surely it contains secret powers for the Ronin to go through such lengths to protect this woman, but once Bautan examines it and learns its secrets, we will gain the advantage in our-"

Smoke billowed out of the ruptured armor as Black Hawk impaled the soldier on the top of its head with a feather knife. "Rrrrrgh! Just like they say: you want something done right, do it yourself!" she snarled and spread her wings before launching into the air.

* * *

"Ugh…that jerk broke my cell! I can't call a taxi, I can't call Shannon, I can't call the police; I can't call anyone! How are we going to get out of here without the evil empire rejects catching us?" Shainie looked up from where she sat on the curb. She jumped, startled when she heard a curious sound and looked to the side to see Azuro cupping his hands around his mouth and uttering a strange cry. "You know that'll tell them where we are. What the heck you doing anyway? Your best impression of a male peacock?"

"Calling for help. Skywrath should be here soon."

"Oh good. I can't wait to get out of this crazy city and back to my room. I doubt I'll have another trip weird enough to top _this_ week's entry," Shainie commented as she smoothed the roughened pages of her journal and found an empty page to jot in.

"If you mature to be as commanding as your mother, than this experience will no doubt strengthen you further. You have shown an uncanny endurance through all of this."

"Heh, I guess freelanding in the concrete jungle can be just as hairy as the wilderness."

"Indeed. Of course I have yet to find anything as dangerous as a startled Cresta…"

"I have no idea what that is, but seeing as how you're not from around here, I probably shouldn't pry…so…Why are you here anyways?" Shainie raked her fingers through her hair.

"I came here with four of my friends…one of them…came to an ill end. He harmed others in his madness, and I felt responsible for not seeing the signs sooner."

"Well, if he went bonkers, it was his choice, not yours. Each of us is responsible only for ourselves, and whether or not we affect others is a decision we make on our own."

"I always considered us peers, but he felt himself superior in ability and inferior in fame."

"Well see! There you have it! Everything was on him, not on you. It sounds just like this girl I used to know in high school. She and my cousin used to be the best of friends, but then she all of a sudden decides she wants to cut corners and tried to get Shannon to take the fall with her. She blamed Shannon for everything that happened, but ultimately it was her damn fault. Just like my dad. He blamed Mom for…well…he blamed her, but he refused to admit to himself how much of a jackass he was for not supporting her." Azuro frowned in thought and looked at the ground. "It sucks your friend died, but he has no one to blame but himself."

"Then why do I feel guilt over his death?"

"Because on some level, you really _were_ best friends. And I know for a fact that's rare."

"Hey Outworlder!" The two looked up and were surprised to see a winged figure hovering in the air. "Digging the new threads! You can almost pass for normal." Azuro growled and positioned himself infront of Shainie. "As surprising as it may sound, I'm not here to kill you. Hand over the O'Connor girl, and I promise I won't string you up across town by your guts."

"Tak kavi eyen saigre!" Azuro snarled. Shainie peeked out from behind him and blinked up at the flying black-haired yellow-eyed bird-winged woman.

"You know, I _had_ considered sparing you, since I was ordered to retrieve just the girl, but I suppose I can make the time to brutally and painfully kill you. I was told to find the O'Connor girl. They didn't say anything about you having to be alive." Black Hawk noticed how Azuro lacked his own weapon. "I hope you gave your gods a heads up that you'd be stopping by: permanently." Azuro tensed as Black Hawk uncoiled her whip. "WHIP LASH THRA-!"

"Jennifer?" Black Hawk stopped her attack and her eyes widened. "Jennifer Carole?"

"What did you call me?" Black Hawk whispered. Shainie stepped out from behind Azuro.

"Jennifer Carole…from high school?" Azuro watched confused as Shainie stepped infront of him. "That you? Wow…it _is_ you! Whoa…jeez…what the heck happened to _you_?"

"Don't _call _me that! My name is Black Hawk, you stupid little mortal!"

"_Wow_! You know, I'd heard rumors how you'd gone bat-shit-crazy, but I had _no_ idea how true they were. Couldn't find a job at a gas station, so you signed up with the forces of darkness? Yikes. Somehow, I didn't quite picture you being recorded in the high school yearbook as being 'most likely to become a two-bit super villain'. Oh wait! I forgot!" Shainie slapped her hands together. "You weren't _in_ the yearbook. Because you got _expelled_!"

"How _DARE_ you!"

"'How dare I' what? Call you Jennifer Carole? That's your name. That won't change, who you are, no matter how ugly you look." Azuro looked over his shoulder for something that could work as a weapon. He spotted a loose length of white pipe and reached back with his leg, not wanting to draw attention by stooping down. He caught the edge of it with his toe and very slowly dragged it towards him.

"Insolent little mortal! Shut up or else!" Black Hawk snarled.

"Or else you'll, what? 'Slay' me? 'Eat my soul'? Gosh Jennifer. Do you not hear what you sound like? You sound like one of those one-week villains from Teenage Turbo Cosmo Cops. You know, I used to get my feelings hurt back then when Shannon called me a spoiled brat behind my back, but now, it doesn't bother me as much." Azuro pressed down on the edge of the pipe with his heel so that it flipped up and smacked into his open palm. "You know why? Because there's people like _you_ who are infinitely worse!"

"I'll kill you for that!"

"You know what, go on ahead! Kill me if you want! I don't care! The only thing I'd regret about dying is not being able to tell everyone how much of a _LOSER_ you turned out to be!" Shainie screamed back and pressed the back of her hand against her forehead and extended her thumb and index finger in a L shape.

"_THAT_ does it! Die!" Black Hawk spread her wings to hurl feather knives.

"No one will die today, vieke!" Azuro stepped infront of Shainie and pushed her back slightly. Black Hawk glared at him and sneered.

"You think I've forgotten about you Outworlder! I'll destroy you both!"

"For the last time," Azuro growled and swung the pipe about. An amazed Shainie watched as the air itself seemed to warp and follow the motions. "I. Am. THANGIEN!" Azuro roared deeply and made a single mighty slash. Black Hawk launched a salvo of feathers, but Azuro swung the pipe and sent up a wave of bluish light to deflect. Shainie gasped in awe as Azuro produced successive pulses into the single wave that arced up towards Black Hawk. He reminded her of an artist painting forcefully and passionately.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Black Hawk dove down, trying to out-maneuver the wave. Azuro swung down and the wave twisted and coiled, trying to wrap around her. She screeched in frustration and caught one last glance of a determined Azuro and an impressed Shainie before the light enveloped her and started to shrink. Azuro swung the pipe behind his back, dismissing the Metra Wave, but saw no trace of the Demon Warrior: living or otherwise.

"Oh wow…you were able to do that with just a length of PVC?" Shainie asked, awed.

"It matters not what weapon you wield, but how you wield it," Azuro smirked and thunked the pipe against his shoulder. It promptly crumpled into dust in his hands and Azuro sighed. "I told Mia it would get stormy…" Shainie grinned with delight and rubbed her hand through her hair by the back of her head, wanting to say something. Then a shrill metallic sound drew their attention skyward, but Azuro looked relieved rather than alarmed. "Skywrath! Here!"

Shainie looked up and staggered back a few steps when she saw the winged metal horse alight on the ground. "Wow! Oh…wow…." she stammered as Azuro mounted and offered his hand to her. The creature extended one wing towards the ground to serve as a step ladder. "Oh wow…wow…You know…I've had guys give me rides in luxury cars and even on the back of a camel…but I can't say I've ever ridden on the back of a flying horse."

"Vethu, Skywrath. Vethu," Azuro said. Skywrath whinnied in agreement and vaulted into the air, taking Azuro and a breathless Shainie high over the city and towards the estate.

* * *

"Intriguing…I can sense no traces of power, yet it must hide some secret for the girl to have been so loathe to part with it…" Bautan whispered as he hunched over a bright pink pouch made of a shiny, supple material with a design like that of a round white face with disproportionately small ears, eyes, and nose, and no mouth of any sort. "This symbol…it may be from the original mage-smiths the O'Connors are descended from. They must have imbued it with shielding magic to disguise it as a common mortal article." He continued to peer at it with archaic looking metal goggles and poke at it with brass and wooden instruments.

"…Yeah…well…I'm sure if anyone can find its secret, it's you," Black Hawk muttered and left the room. Bautan merely snorted in agreement and continued his 'examination'. Her talons clicked against the marble floors and she reached down and fished the stolen compact out of her skirt and began touching up the part of her cheek where the Metra Wave had grazed her.

* * *

_He walked the Paths without interruption and found himself in what looked like a massive chapel. He craned his neck up to look at four colossal stained-glass windows. Instead of walls, however, the windows seemed to hover in the vault of the stars with two suns burning in the background and various stellar clouds in the distance._

"You…you…you come with **doubts**?" _a stern voice echoed in the expanse._

"I doubt myself. If the seeds of discontent grew in Rothenn, they could grow in me."

"Seeds grow only in fertile ground. They would find poor soil…soil…**soil**." _The voice spoke from behind him, but he respectfully kept his gaze to the stained glass window depicting a tall, regal woman with flowing silver hair wearing a blue combat uniform with high white shoulder crests and yellow gloves and boots. She held a sword in one hand._ "Do you doubt us…us…**us**?"

"Was Rothenn right about ascending? About Entide?"

"He…he…he was never meant to have such **power**. He used without controlling. He controlled without understanding. No mortal should wield such power…power…**power**."

"And End Tide?"

"Do you fear dying…dying…**dying**?" _He shook his head._ "For…for…for all his self-righteousness, at his core, Rothenn feared **death**. He…he…he envisioned a world free of such inevitability…and he forgot…forgot…**forgot** that death is relative. He thought he could become more than mortal…mortal…**mortal**. He forgot the strength of mortals. Have…have…have you forgotten?" _He frowned and shook his head._ "Did you forget…forget…forget so quickly the events of the day?" _He looked to the side and saw a glowing projection of himself and Shainie._

"Did you not see…see…see how she placed herself before you? Drawing the enemy's ire, buying you precious time."_ He watched himself as he stood behind Shainie, amazed by the girl's audacity._ "Power…power…**power**…the wicked can spend a lifetime seeking…and never finding, but the righteous can wield it, without even realizing they have it…it…**it**.

"Your father did not die singing our praise or vowing…vowing…vowing retribution. He died with his family at heart… Love…love…love…grants you a strength that cannot be measured." _He blinked as a firm hand grasped his chin and turned his face to the side. He had to look up to see Her eyes, as She stood well over a head taller._

"You will die…die…**die** in the Entide, as you are meant to. But your courage will be such that even the Enemy will sing of your legend." _Her lips spread in a wry smile._ "Assuming any…any…any of them **survive** the battle."

* * *

"It sucks that I have to leave, but Mom already scheduled the next trip, otherwise I'd totally stick around and hang with you guys," Shainie said. Azuro nodded understandingly while Kento and Ryo balked at the notion. "I've never done a long-distance thing before, but I can try to write," she shrugged as she waited for her flight to arrive at the airport.

"Your visit at least ended on a positive note, and I am honored to have shared your company. You remind me very much of someone lost to me, and your courage dispelled my doubts."

"Well, I'm glad we were able to help each other with our problems. I mean, I helped you overcome your guilt, and you helped me not get horribly murdered." Shannon sighed impatiently and glanced at her watch. Then she looked down the terminal and gasped when she saw a familiar face. "I'll try to keep in touch!"

"C'mon, Shainie. Your plane's boarding," Shannon grabbed her by the arm and tugged.

"Huh? Oh okay. Goodbye Ryo! Goodbye Kento! I'm sorry I didn't get to spend as much time with you!" The two waved half-heartedly. Shannon tugged again.

"Come ON. Your Mom will throttle you if you miss your flight."

"Okay okay. I'm going. I just really hate having to leave so soon…Azuro turned out to be such a cool guy. I've never felt such a deep understanding with a guy before-" Shannon froze and Shainie trailed off when she saw a handsome-looking man with thick blonde hair walk alongside them. He smiled at Shannon then looked at Shainie, noticing her for the first time.

"Hello," he greeted politely before looking back at Shannon. "I'll get back with you later, you look like you're busy," he said then walked off towards the others.

"…Is…is he-" Shainie stared after the man and pointed at him.

"No." Shannon all but dragged her towards the ramp.

"So he's-"

"No."

"But he-" Shainie tried to walk away after him.

"Come on Shainie, your flight's this way," Shannon growled and pulled harder. Shainie slipped out of her grasp and walked away, as if being pulled by a magnetic force. Shannon hurriedly ran infront of her and braced her shoulder and began shoving her towards the door. The boarding attendant watched as Shannon pushed her in and slammed the door shut.

"So, what'd I miss?" Sage asked. Kento clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"Here, I'll fill you in on the way out," he said and the two left the terminal.

"…My heart tells me I did well…but my mind remains uncertain," Azuro muttered.

"Eh, I wouldn't dwell on it so much," Ryo shrugged. Azuro chuckled.

"Indeed, I have done enough dwelling recently…I believe I am ready to return to Thanged. I have spent much time reflecting, and not enough acting. Rothenn felt the Metraind were too few and too detached. I will work with T'plaureth to train the next generation. No longer will we be the elite few, but a legion of many with the strength of the spirit."

"That's nice to hear. I'm glad you'll be able to go home with a positive outlook."

"I'll likely return sometime in the immediate future, for the Pairing draws near."

"Oh yeah! I almost forgot about that. I'm sure everyone's looking forward to being there," Ryo smiled cheerfully. Meanwhile, Shannon braced herself against the door, holding it shut. She did a double take when she saw Shainie holding up a piece of paper against the porthole with a series of numbers scrawled across it. She swung her arm up and used her jacket to cover the window. The attendant blinked in mild surprise.


	14. Secret of the World Armor

Secret of the World Armor

By Mardrena

"I really appreciate you coming over on such short notice. This has had some of our best minds stumped for weeks," Mia said as she opened the front door and welcomed Kayura inside. They headed to the study and Mia walked over to her desk where a small enameled box rest on top. "It's in such an ancient dialect…clearly from over five-hundred years ago."

"I'm always happy to help. Let's see what we got here now…you said this was part of a collection from an anonymous donor?" Kayura asked as Mia slipped on some latex gloves.

"Sort of. The original owner willed his collection to a relative, but they wanted no part of it so they donated everything to the university. Kind of strange but I suppose they felt artifacts like these would be better served in the hands of scholars. Near as we can tell," Mia began as she carefully lifted the lid off with her fingertips and set it to the side then reached inside the box. Mia set out the first photo-sized sheet of paper. "Judging from the layout, they should be arranged like…this." Mia finished setting out the second page onto a laminated sheet on her desk. "Dr. Yamagome suspects these characters here and here might be coordinates of some kind-" Mia paused when she saw Kayura's expression. "Are…are you allright?"

"Mia…You have to destroy those. Now." Kayura said stiffly.

"Wait-what? Kayura, I brought you here to identify these-"

"You don't know what you've stumbled upon. You don't know the danger!"

"Well, that's you're supposed to tell me-"

"Destroy them! NOW!" Kayura took a step towards the desk.

"Whoa, hold on! This is university property. I could get in trouble if anything happened."

"I don't _care_ about the university! If you don't have the stomach to do the deed, I will do it myself!" Kayura reached for the desk. Mia promptly snatched up the laminated sheet.

"Kayura! Wait just a second: think about what you're asking me to do here!"

"I don't have to ask! I KNOW! YOU DON'T! Destroy them NOW! SHRED THEM! BURN THEM!" Kayura almost lunged but Mia swung the laminated sheet to the side.

"KAYURA! Just calm down, please! I can't just let you destroy these for no reason!"

"There is more at stake here than your stupid collection!" Kayura tensed as if to tackle Mia, but before Kayura had a chance to spring, the door to the study slammed open.

"Whoa! Mia! What's going on? I heard yelling!" Ryo demanded. Kayura froze and looked at him. Mia glanced from her to Ryo and her mouth hung open before uttering a word.

"I-I-I honestly have no idea! I wanted her to identify these fragments and the moment she saw them she went ballistic! I've never seen her get so upset before!" Kayura glanced from Mia to Ryo then back at Mia again. She looked sorrowful, like a frightened child.

"Why couldn't you just listen to me?" she whispered sadly.

* * *

"Okay Kayura. We're all here like you asked, so what about these pages made you fly off the handle? You're normally so level-headed, I have to admit I'm a bit surprised at what happened," Ryo commented from where he stood on the opposite end of the desk. Kayura sat in a chair with Dais and Sehkmet standing beside her. Anubis paced off to one side and Cale slouched against the window. The other younger Ronin as well as Tanya had arrayed themselves against the walls. Kayura wrung her hands in her lap, looking quite nervous. She opened her mouth to speak then closed it and shook her head and looked over her shoulder.

"Anubis, you tell them! I wasn't there when it happened!" she pleaded. Anubis folded one arm over his chest and tapped his knuckle against his lip, looking pensive.

"Anubis? What's she talking about?" Rowen asked. Anubis stopped pacing.

"Come on Anubis, if you know what all this is about, spill it-" Ryo demanded.

"Don't _press_ me about it, Ryo!" Anubis snapped abruptly. Ryo blinked, startled by the desperate anger in his voice. "It's something that even the Dynasty weeps of…" No one else spoke while Anubis seemed to struggle to collect himself. "As we are now…as we have been this past year…is not the first time Ronin Warrior and Dark Warlord have stood united…"

"But, you guys aren't Dark Warlords anymore, so-" Kento quipped until a withering glare from Anubis made him cringe in his seat and gulp the rest of his words down.

"…Roughly four-hundred years before the First Dynasty War, Talpa attempted to secure a foothold in the Mortal Realm. He had just recruited his four Dark Warlords, and felt confident enough to unleash his darkness upon man. However, he did not anticipate facing opposition."

"Talpa strongly suspected the Ancient had helped Hariel find the other armors, which he gave to his vassals: the original Ronin Warriors. Hariel and his lieutenants sought just as fiercely to defend his domain as Talpa did to conquer them, and he succeeded in large part due to his unique ability to wear the Inferno Armor independent of the others," Dais added.

"What do you mean? Inferno requires four other armors to manifest," Sage brought up.

"That's only partly correct. In order to attain physical form, Inferno demands a significant infusion of energy that can be provided by any combination of four armor powers, _or_ in some rare occasions, a scant few stronger powers," Cale began.

"Like when Anubis used the Staff to help Ryo and me against Kayura!"

"Exactly. Hariel was the only person capable of using his own spirit to substitute the presence of four other Armors. It allowed the other Ronin to retain their full powers. As you know quite well, Talpa immensely detests rivals, and that Hariel held himself to be his equal infuriated him."

"Hariel was a rare man…just as cunning and ruthless as any Dark Warlord with all the compassion and valor of a Ronin Warrior…" Sehkmet spoke almost wistfully. "He stood like a mountain against the dark tide of Talpa's armies. Battle raged across the land for days on end, neither side ready to back down…" Sehkmet frowned and glanced at Anubis, who nodded solemnly. Sehkmet sucked air in through his teeth and turned his gaze to the table. "The sky seemed to burn and a sound like that of a dry wind tearing through a paper wall made combatants on both sides pause. …and then _they_ came… They rained from the heavens like the tips of arrows piercing the clouds. They flew of their own accord, arcing and diving-"

"You've seen them! The ones from my dream! You've fought them!" Cye exclaimed and jumped to his feet. "I suspected as much when I saw the look on your face…" he said to Anubis.

"I couldn't confirm it until now, but given recent events…yes…I do believe the foe we fought back then and the Enemy we expect to face in the End Tide are one and the same."

"We've lived in the Mortal Realm long enough to get a grasp for modern concepts of science fiction and we strongly believe that they were indeed aliens," Dais commented.

"They kept shouting at us in our own tongue, about how we were 'flawed' and that they wanted to 'correct the mistakes of the One'," Sehkmet added, shaking his head in disgust.

"Wait wait wait…if such a large scale attack occurred, how come there's no written record of it? I've never heard of extraterrestrial sightings from that era, even in regional legends," Sage argued. Anubis fixed him with a rueful glance.

"Sage…the reason you don't read about this in history books or even wives tales is because aside from myself and the other Armor Bearers," Anubis gestured to Dais, Sehkmet, and Cale. "_No other mortals survived the battle_. The Enemy attacked on a scale never before seen. Not only were there the sky-borne vessels to contend with, but great structures like upended cities in the heavens. As armies from both realms withered away, only the Armor Bearers held fast.

"It was then in the heat of battle that Mardrena the Lady Ronin approached us and called upon myself and Hariel to parley. She asked we lay down our grudges and unite against a common foe. Naturally, the notion seemed rather absurd to both of us, but we had no alternative. Talpa needed mortals to feed upon just as much as Hariel needed them to protect.

"That was the first time ever that the Nine stood united alongside the Lady Ronin. Together we drove back the initial assault…and yet the Enemy's numbers seemed without limit. They bent all their forces against us. Even the might of Inferno could at best keep them at bay. Mardrena then suggested we pool all our power unto Hariel. She theorized that if the Nine formed Talpa's armor, if she contributed her own, an even greater armor could be summoned.

"We did so, and indeed a new armor was created. Its raw power laid waste to the Enemy, utterly annihilating them and driving them from the heavens. We rejoiced in the victory, and those few surviving mortals gave praise to their Sun Emperor…until he turned against them. The union of all ten Armors had given birth to a monstrous force of savage chaos, consuming Hariel in madness. It embodied the primordial might of the world itself from before the count of years. That…armor…killed Hariel, and in the end he had caused as much, if not more damage than the Enemy. The surviving Ronin Warriors mourned their leader's death, and Mardrena blamed herself until the end of her years. We withdrew to the Nether Realm, and it would take four hundred years for Talpa to replenish his forces to launch another assault."

"So these pages…are what? A record of what happened?" Ryo asked.

"No. Not a record," Kayura spoke up, breaking her silence. "A map. A map detailing the location of a set of powerful artifacts specially created to control and contain the power of the Armor of Gea, as the Ancient termed it. The Mystic Alliance foresaw a potential need for the World Armor, and before they were eradicated, they secreted away six swords designed to protect the wearer and allow its power to be channeled safely.

"The first fragment contains coordinates, as Mia's colleague suspected. The second provides warnings for the various safeguards left in place. The missing fragments contain more specific information, but what lies here is enough by which to navigate. The swords were hidden deep within the heart of a glacier close to a great settlement in a place called Iceland."

"Hmm…" Rowen stood up and walked over to one of the book cases. He tapped his fingers along the spines of several volumes until he found what he sought and retrieved an atlas from the shelf. He flipped it open and skimmed through several pages then turned it around and set it down on the desk. "Sounds like the Langjokull glacier, directly northeast of Reykjavik."

"Try saying that five times fast…" Kento muttered.

"Although I wish it with all my being that such a terrible Armor never again be used…as Anubis said, recent events indicate it may be required in the End Tide. All ten of you must undertake this journey. Make your preparations then meet us outside in two hours."

* * *

Shannon walked backwards in a circle dragging the blade of the Ronin Cross through the ground. She uttered words in a strange language as she traced what looked like knot-work.

"Wow…I didn't know Shannon knew Thangien," Cye remarked.

"It's not Thangien. It's a variant of Gaelic," Rowen corrected. All ten Ronin stood in the middle of the circle, waiting for her to finish.

"Oh good, you haven't left yet!" Mia ran outside carrying a large pile of items in her arms. "Here. I had these made for each of you. You'll need them where you're going," she said as she began handing out thick leather jackets lined with soft fleece.

"Um…Mia, our armors protect us from the weather you know…" Cye commented.

"Your bodies, perhaps, but not your faces," Mia argued as she finished distributing the coats. Dais held his up and turned it around, studying the custom-embroidered black and gold emblem of a spider on the back. He blinked several times then looked at Mia, raising an eyebrow. "Well, I was saving them for Christmas, but I figured now's as good a time as any," Mia shrugged.

"Okay! Listen up!" Shannon announced as she finished her knot-work. "Kayura thinks using your armors to teleport will set off alarm bells with the Dynasty, so I'll be using a spell called Earth Gate to transport you directly through the center of the Earth. You'll pop out on the other side safely, but you won't be right at the glacier. That part's going to take some legwork."

"There are certain signs you'll need to lookout for to open the path to the sword vault: 'Blades of light sheathed in night', 'Ten must stand as One', 'Icy tears shed for the righteous', 'Yield to the test of Mist'. The Ancient did not participate in the construction of the vault, so I cannot explain to these meanings as I lack such memories, but I imagine the solutions will present themselves when needed," Kayura explained then reached out and tapped Ryo on the shoulder. "Ryo, I should tell you," Kayura began in a hushed tone. Ryo leaned close. "The fragments Mia found are but half of the original parchment. To date, the other two have yet to be accounted for." Ryo frowned upon hearing that but nodded appreciatively.

"Here, take this," Shannon grabbed the Ronin Cross by the hilt and struggled to lift it off the ground. Ryo reached over and wrapped his hands around each side of the cross-guard. "Don't drag it-okay, stick it directly in the middle." Ryo obeyed and backed up, glancing to either side to gauge where to position the large claymore. He lifted up then stabbed it into the grass. "Now turn it ninety degrees." Ryo tightened his grip on the cross-guard and wrenched it sideways. Tanya squeaked out few expletives and whirled around when the etched symbols in the yard flashed bright orange and sank downward slightly. They made the sound of heavy grinding gears. "Have fun Jules," Shannon said with a smirk and flicked two fingers from her brow.

They each had the sensation of being in a plummeting elevator. They did not see each other or their own bodies, but could see all around them layers upon layers upon layers of rock. Young stone transitioned to burning rock, and as they continued their vision became almost blinded as they passed through the core. Liquid fire gave way to young rock and they found themselves passing through pockets of glittering ore, seeping magma, smoldering ash, and thick steam.

They emerged on a rocky bluff dotted with patches of grass. The etched knot-work appeared on the ground around them, glowing red hot. Ryo patted himself to make sure he had a body now, and several of the others tottered to the side from dizziness.

"_BWLAUAUUCH_!" ***splat***

"GEEZ Tanya! For such a skinny girl, you've got an awfully big stomach to have held all that!" Cye exclaimed from behind Ryo. The others stepped out of the circle and took in their surroundings. The sparkling sub-arctic metropolis of Reykjavik dominated the western horizon.

"Hello civilization…" Kento mumbled and turned around. "Goodbye civilization…"

"I don't know what had Mia so worried. It actually feels pretty nice out here," Sage commented and started to shrug off his coat.

"Eh, you won't be saying that once we venture deeper into the glacier where you won't have the warm air and the sun's light doesn't shine that far," Rowen mentioned. Sage frowned in dismay and slipped his coat back on. "Hey it could be worse. We could be in the Vatnajokull glacier and _that_ one's ten times larger," Rowen said with a cheerful grin. The other Ronin didn't share his sense of humor as they began their trek across the gravelly terrain.

"Why couldn't the swords be hidden in a nice cozy temple?" Kento complained.

"Because they intended for only the strongest to be able to retrieve the swords should they be needed, and if not, that Earth would keep them buried for all eternity," Cale answered solemnly.

"Indeed, it would be better if the swords remained forgotten," Anubis grumbled.

"Well, I don't think the Mystic Alliance spent their final effort making them just so they would stay buried in some glacier," Ryo countered. Anubis glared at him, and Ryo glanced back.

They walked for hours passing through long pits dotted with steam vents and over dunes of gravel and frost. Sunlight faded and soon a biting wind kicked up. They had to pull the hoods of their jackets close to their cheeks. Eventually they lost sight of the stars to navigate by. "Ryo! I strongly suggest we find shelter until things clear up!" Anubis hollered.

"Yeah! I'm gonna have to second that!" Rowen shouted, blinking against the frost.

"Ditto! There's some cracks in the ice pack we can bunker up in there till this blows over!"

They made camp in a narrow cul-de-sac where two cliffs arced up, one leaning over the other and shielding them from the worst of the wind. The environment offered nothing by way of tinder, so they made do with the light from a small pile of glow sticks they carried with them.

"Are we even sure we're heading the right direction? Somehow 'a glacier in Iceland' doesn't seem very specific," Dais complained as he rubbed his fingers.

"There's still the signs Kayura told us to look for. We should be on the right track."

"Welp, if we're gonna be stuck here for awhile, no sense being stuck on an empty stomach. Thankfully I had the foresight to bring along some modest provisions." Everyone else looked at Kento when they heard a loud thump as he plopped a heavily laden backpack by the glow pile.

"'Modest'? Kento, you're carrying enough to feed a small regiment!" Cale exclaimed as Kento began distributing several small containers around the camp.

"Exactly. That's why I'm the one carrying them. Here, they're self heating. Just pop the lid off and stick it on the bottom," Kento instructed. Sage eyed his container warily but followed the directions and raised both eyebrows as the cup became warm to the touch. In less than a minute he had a pleasantly warm cup of chicken noodle soup. Cale and Dais exchanged glances.

"Kento…the level of genius you're capable of when motivated by hunger is…disturbing…to say the least," Dais grimaced.

"Thanks!" Kento smiled cheerfully and looked around the camp, making sure he didn't forget anyone. He frowned when he saw the Lady Ronin sitting off to the side with her back against the wall. She had her arms folded tight over her chest and her hands tucked snugly under her elbows. Despite her armor and the insulated jacket, she shuddered severely and gibbered through chattering teeth. Kento frowned in concern and fished another soup cup out of his pack.

"Here. Take one of these." Tanya looked up, surprised to see Kento crouch infront of her. "You could do with some warm food in your tummy, since you puked up everything you had when we arrived." Tanya glanced from him to the cup them him again several times.

Kento remained quiet and waited patiently as Tanya seemed to have difficulty prying her right hand from under her left elbow. She reached out slowly and took the cup with the barest tips of her fingers around the rim. Kento released it the same time she pulled it towards her and mumbled something that may or may not have been a "thank you", but Kento knew better than to pry. He scooted back, withdrawing to the opposite side of the camp to sit next to Cye. "I'm starting to think Tanya doesn't like me very much…" he muttered. Cye rolled his eyes.

"Kento, it's Tanya; she doesn't like _anyone_."

"There a particular reason you're against this expedition? Besides the obvious you being one of the few living survivors of an attempted invasion by a powerful alien civilization," Ryo asked as he seated himself next to Anubis. The Elder Ronin turned his soup cup from side to side.

"No good can come from that armor. It brought more grief than joy, and those that should have been grateful for surviving the Enemy's onslaught were killed by their very savior…"

"Anubis…If I didn't know any better…I'd say you look afraid."

"Afraid? No, Ryo. I am not afraid, I am _terrified_! I know what that armor is capable of."

"Both your account and Cye's vision indicate these guys have it in for us…"

"Ryo, having several tons of brick and mortar dumped on your head would make you see anything. How can we be so sure 'they' are even still alive? For all we know, Gea's power could have scoured them clean from the far reaches of the heavens!"

"And what if it didn't? What if they survived? What if all those endless hordes you fought were just the tip of the iceberg? Think about it Anubis; you and the others put up the fight of your life. You gave it everything you had. You don't think that would've told the Enemy 'hey, these guys are serious business. We gotta take a different approach with them'."

"We've spent so long relying on the strength of our bodies and spirits, I am loathe to find ourselves dependent on such an armor. I saw what happened to Hariel…to suffer such a fate…I would not wish it upon anyone," Anubis said sadly before taking a sip of his soup.

"Well, I'm assuming that's why the swords were created; to make sure nothing like that happened again. Besides, you could think of Gea as more of a 'break in case of emergency' button," Ryo shrugged and drank more of his own soup. Anubis snorted into his cup, trying to mask a chuckle. By then the wind had subsided drastically and the sky started to clear.

Sehkmet saw it first as he stared at the glow pile while eating. Patches of light shifted about on the snow, overlapping with the light emanating from the sticks. He tilted his head back and scanned the sky. Cale, who sat next to him, looked up from eating when he heard the clatter of metal and plastic against the ice and saw Sehkmet's empty soup cup rolling from his grasp. He frowned in concern and looked up as well. His jaw dropped and he set his cup on the ground.

"By the gods…" Dais whispered. The others looked up, amazed by the sight of shifting curtains of red and green light, with the occasional glimmer of gold between them.

"Aurora borealis… I forgot it's possible to see it at this latitude," Rowen grinned. The others observed the display in wonder, but Sage frowned thoughtfully. He set his cup on the ground and crouched before springing to the top of the cliff. Ryo watched him, assuming he just wanted a better view. He finished the remainder of his soup, as they would soon set off again.

"RYO! YOU SHOULD COME UP AND SEE THIS!" Sage hollered from the cliff. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the scrape of ice and saw Ryo arrive then pointed to the northern horizon. "That's a bit low to the ground to be an aurora."

"'Blades of light sheathed in night'!" Ryo exclaimed upon seeing the six pulsing shafts of light emanating from the distance. "It knows we're coming."

The Ronin retrieved their glow sticks and other items and set off towards the beacon. Instead of growing increasingly distant, like an elusive rainbow, the spectral swords hovered above a specific point, one Ryo almost found when he stepped precariously close to a narrow crack that widened into a deep crevasse. He pulled his glow stick out from his sleeve and dropped it into the depths, keeping his gaze on the stick and the glow it cast on walls of smooth ice. He heard a distant clatter as the stick landed on a floor rather than vanishing into darkness.

The others watched as Ryo crouched and braced his palms against the edges of the crevasse. He lowered his legs into the crack then let go, holding his arms close as he slid along the ice down towards the floor. He reached out and grasped the walls, slipping a bit as he emerged safely on a floor made smooth and rough by decades of melting and refreezing. "It's safe!" he hollered, his voice echoing through the crevasse. He stepped to the side to make room and waited for the others to descend. Kento was the first, but instead of landing on his feet, slipped and landed on his belly and slid over the floor a few feet, his arms and legs sprawled around him.

"I'm good," he hastily assured as he sprang to his feet and dusted himself off. Ryo stooped down and retrieved his stick then held it up to the dark. The light reflected off of startlingly clear ice and gave the crevasse an eerie appearance. They took off walking once everyone arrived. Cale and Sehkmet whirled around, anticipating battle when they heard an echoing raspy crack.

"Relax. It's just pockets of air shifting through tiny openings in the ice pack," Rowen assured. The Elders still looked about warily but resumed their pace. They continued walking the winding path of the crevasse until it seemed to straighten out, but the feeble light from their sticks didn't reach that far. Kento stuffed his hands into the pockets of his jacket and shrugged the ruff up against his cheeks. The cold caused their breath to fog, and his came out like a smokestack.

He blinked when he felt something bump against his right shoulder and glanced to the side. His eyes widened when he saw Tanya leaning against him with her eyes closed and breath coming out in faint puffs. Apparently the warm soup in her stomach had caused her to go into hibernation mode with her legs remaining on autopilot. No one else seemed to notice, and Kento kept his pace steady and remained quiet, not wanting to startle her.

A large chunk of ice fell from high above and narrowly missed her left shoulder, landing by her ankles and exploding into smaller bits, spraying her legs with frost. Tanya yelped loudly upon feeling this, and the others looked back in time to see her reach out and grab Kento's arm by reflex. She glanced about nervously then realized she held something and squeezed slightly. She looked to the left and saw her left hand gripping folds of Kento's right sleeve.

The other Ronin chuckled in amusement when Tanya growled in disgust and raised her left arm sharply. Kento winced, bracing himself for the incoming slap that didn't come as a loud grinding crunch echoed through the crevasse. Tanya paused and glanced upward nervously. The others looked about as well as they heard several louder cracks.

"That's… kinda loud for pockets of air…" Ryo muttered.

"Yeah…" Rowen frowned and glanced up at the walls. He watched his reflection in the ice and gasped as a crack formed suddenly in the middle. "RUN!" he screamed. Just as they took off, chunks of ice broke from the walls and fell towards the floor. One fell towards Dais, but Sehkmet grabbed him by the arm and yanked him out of the way.

"Thanks!"

"Well, you're getting hitched in a few weeks, and I don't think Danae would appreciate it if you got your head caved in by a giant ice cube!" Sehkmet replied.

"There! Up ahead! An opening in the ice pack! I can see it!" Cale shouted. The Ronin picked up speed as the glacier seemed intent on burying them before they reached their destination. Tanya yelped when the spray from an exploding ice chunk struck her face. She looked up, surprised to see Kento blasting apart chunks with the clawnchers of his Ram sub-armor. She reached for the cuffs of her jacket and pulled them back, making room to summon her own.

Sage glanced over his shoulder when he heard the sounds of blasting and gunfire. He and Cye followed the example with Cye using his harpoons to move chunks out of the path and Sage slicing up any that fell too close. Soon the fleeing Ronin saw what Cale had seen through the dark: a dimly lit entryway clearly made by the hand of man.

Rowen's gaze snapped up when he heard a deafening crunch and his eyes widened in horror. He sprang forward and turned around, raising both hands to the sky. Instead of burying the entrance, the avalanche froze and hovered in the air. "HURRY! He's buying us time!" Ryo shouted. Rowen braced himself and waited for the others to run past. Ice boulders and sprays of frost slowly descended towards him. "Rowen! We're in! Come on!" Rowen squeezed his eyes shut and his legs buckled slightly from the strain. "Rowen! You can't hold up the entire glacier! Get back here!" Sweat ran down Rowen's forehead and cheeks as he backed up inch by inch.

He crouched then sprang backwards, releasing his concentration and the suspended avalanche. The other Ronin shielded their faces and coughed from the billowing clouds of icy dust. Ryo looked up and saw Rowen lying on the floor, his ankles buried under ice. "Ughh…remind me not to do that again…" he grumbled and propped himself on his elbows.

"Why not? That was pretty impressive," Dais complemented as he helped free him.

"Whenever we use our elemental powers without the support of our full armors, it puts significant strain on our bodies," Sage explained and pulled ice chunks off of Rowen's legs.

"I know what you mean. After my little stunt in the bay, I felt kinda woozy," Cye added.

"Pfft. Never bothered us…" Cale snorted.

"Well we don't exactly have centuries of practice," Kento commented.

"That was way too sudden and focused to have been just a freak geological shift. Ryo, we're being followed," Rowen stated grimly. Ryo frowned and hummed in disappointment.

"So much for traveling in secret…" Tanya grumbled.

"No, that's not it. Kayura warned me about this. She suspected the Dynasty might have the other two fragments of the map," Ryo said.

"Wait, then why the heck was Kayura so set on destroying our half to begin with? For all we know, the Dynasty might've found them before we even knew they existed!" Kento argued.

"Because she didn't want you treating the World Armor like an 'Iwin' button you could mash whenever shit hit the fan like you did with Inferno. And I'm sure you all remember how _that_ turned out," Anubis snapped and narrowed his eyes. The younger Ronin grumbled sullenly.

Ryo examined the chamber and paced about the large room but paused when his foot touched something metal. He tapped the floor and heard a dim echo then crouched down and brushed frost off of something. The others watched as he exposed what looked like a large circular plate painted black and gold with a samurai helm emblem. "'Ten must stand as One'…Everyone! Get over here!" Ryo beckoned to them. The others exchanged wary glances. "Come on!"

Cye stepped onto the plate first, followed by the others. Tanya yelped when the plate shuddered, but instead of falling out from under them and spilling them into some insidious trap, the plate sank slowly with the sound of many clicking gears. As they descended, they could see small rails built into the walls of the cylindrical passage. "I guess it was tuned specifically for the weight of ten people…though Kento might count as two," Cye grinned. Kento cuffed him on the shoulder. The ancient lift continued moving down quietly. Ryo blinked when he heard a faint click and a strange sound like strings being plucked in a simple melody. The others looked about the walls, and Rowen crouched down and pressed his ear against the plate, raising an eyebrow.

"16th century elevator music…old Leo had a weiiiiiiird sense of humor," Sehkmet muttered.

"The man had passed decades before Hariel and I came to blows, but many of his designs were utilized by the Ancient One and the Mystic Alliance," Anubis commented. They continued their descent for several minutes until the shaft opened up into a massive chamber. The rails guided the lift to rest on a tiered metal platform where thick iron latches swung up and secured the floor plate. They stepped off onto the icy floor and searched about the chamber.

"At least there's still a way back to the surface…" Sage muttered and examined the clamps.

"I think it's more so no one can follow us down," Cye gazed up at the deep shaft and the distant pinprick of bluish light from the entrance cave.

"So, theoretically, we _could_ summon the Armor of Gea now, _but_, it'd drive Ryo nuts and he'd destroy the entire world, right?" Tanya mused. Ryo threw her an odd glance.

"Correct…" Anubis replied stiffly.

"That's fun. Who knew we've been sitting on a doomsday weapon for the past year…"

"There's a hall this way. Walls look good and solid, like they were carved by hand," Kento called out from an icy corridor. They proceeded down the hall with glow sticks lighting the way.

"We gotta pick up the pace with the Dynasty on our heels," Ryo said.

"No sense holding off on using our full armors at this point," Tanya grumbled.

"Yeah, because using a Typhoon Blast in the depths of a potentially unstable glacier is a good idea!" Cale snorted. Tanya balled a fist but kept her temper in check.

"He's right. These passages withstood a lot in the past few centuries, but we shouldn't risk their stability with an all-out fight. Besides, there's still two more signs," Rowen noted.

"Speaking of, I think this might be one of them…" Ryo muttered and they stopped when the corridor opened into a large chamber that appeared to be a dead end. The walls appeared jagged with the exception of a rather large flowing formation of ice that closely resembled the face of a man. Ryo studied the ice and noticed rusted metal pegs arranged in such a way that melting and refreezing water formed distinguishable features such as eyes, nostrils, and lips. A wide overhang of ice gave the appearance of wearing a helmet. It felt eerily familiar somehow…

Rowen leaned over and peered at the corners of the eye sockets of the sculpture. He reached out and fingered what appeared to be a small tendril of liquid water dripping from a tiny crack in the socket close to the nose. "'Icy tears shed for the righteous'. Everyone, get off the floor! Climb up on the walls!" Rowen waved at the others and stepped away from the sculpture. They found handholds in the rough ice and hauled themselves several feet off the ground, until their heads nearly touched the ceiling. "Kento, use your clawnchers to blast through."

"Um…you sure?" Kento raised an eyebrow. Rowen nodded fervently and bit his lip. Ryo nodded solemnly in confirmation. Kento shrugged his sleeve back and took aim. "You sure?" he paused and glanced at Ryo, who scowled. "Blasting away." The others flinched from the explosion as the centuries-old sculpture shattered and collapsed to the floor, the many chunks being carried forward by a rushing wall of freezing water. The Ronin clung to the wall and waited as the room and hall flooded, the crest coming within inches of their toes.

Tanya yelped when her handhold gave way. Before she slipped into the icy flood, a strong hand grabbed her arm and held her up long enough for her to secure her hands and feet into the wall. Kento clung to the wall beside her. Tanya glanced at him shakily and muttered a barely audible "thank you". Suddenly Kento pulled his right hand away from the wall and slapped himself hard across the face. Tanya's eyes widened and the action drew several startled glances from those who heard the sound over the roaring flood. "…That's for earlier…just in case…" Kento mumbled. Tanya blinked several times and glanced from him to the wall.

The flow began to subside and water dripped from the roof of the newly exposed passage. "Wait a bit longer. Let it drain off some," Ryo said. Sage fished out his glow stick and dropped it to the floor. The stick floated for a few moments before settling. Ryo jumped down and landed safely on the floor, the water barely coming up to his heel. "Let's get moving, before it starts to freeze." Thick fog swirled around their legs as they proceeded deeper into the passage.

Sage hummed and thumped his glow stick against his palm. "These are starting to give out…Don't suppose you have any spares by chance in that pack of yours?" he asked Kento.

"Don't compromise, improvise," Cale snickered and jabbed Sage in the back with his elbow. Ryo looked over his shoulder when he noticed a faint green glow out the corner of his eye. The other Ronin looked at Sage, surprised to see him holding his hands close together with fingers splayed, a small globe of light suspended between them. Dais grunted, impressed.

"Better than batteries huh?" Sage grinned.

"Less taxing than making waves," Cye added.

"Or holding up a glacier," Rowen quipped.

"What the hell is that?" Tanya exclaimed and recoiled when she saw a glowing tendril of fog snaking towards them from further up the hall. More tendrils peeled away, rearing up like the tentacles of a menacing kraken. Kento and Sage readied their clawnchers.

"No! 'Yield to the test of Mist'! This is the fourth checkpoint. Just stay put. I think it wants to check us out," Ryo waved them down. The others eyed the tendrils warily as they coiled around them. Cale looked uneasy as one tendril penetrated his chest and passed straight through his armor and jacket. Anubis looked tense but patient and Rowen looked intrigued.

"Hey! Get-get-get away from there!" Tanya fussed and tried to bat the tendril from her chest.

"Let it do its thing," Ryo stated. Tanya relented and fidgeted as the tendril examined her.

"It making sure we're really Ronin Warriors?" Cye asked.

"It's making sure we're allied. The swords were intended to be used only if the Nine and the Lady Ronin stood united," Sehkmet explained. The tendrils retracted and the mist coalesced into a formation of six shafts of light that receded into the floor. The Ronin staggered back when the floor shuddered and cracks formed that matched the formation. The floor split into pieces that tumbled into the dark beyond. Sage brought his light forth and illuminated a set of stairs hewn into the ice. They crept into the new passage and emerged in an immense chamber. Ramps led to a deep pit and a wide ledge surrounded the inner wall.

Sage hurled his light into the air and detonated it like a flare, flooding the huge chamber with soft emerald light. At the center of the pit, secured in rune-inscribed blocks, rest six swords with wide blades and serrated wing-like cross-guards. Within the hilt of each sword rest large brilliantly cut gems. Four of the swords had two different gemstones; one on each side with pairs of sapphire-citrine, emerald-onyx, aquamarine-jade, and topaz-opal. One of the other two swords held a bright ruby. The last one contained a pale pink diamond.

"This looks a bit too familiar…Kento?" Ryo glanced at him.

"Way ahead of you bro." Kento grabbed one of the chunks from the collapsed floor. He hefted it near his shoulder then lobbed it at the sword block. The chunk struck the floor near the block and skidded a few inches with no noticeable effect other than losing a few chips of ice.

"Looks safe…go ahead Ryo, you should be the one to claim them," Rowen whispered. Ryo took a tentative step forward, more out of reverence than fear.

"I'm afraid you won't be claiming anything today, Ronin Leader!" The Ronin cried out in dismay upon seeing dozens of Dynasty Soldiers perched on the encircling ledge. A gaunt robed figure hovered in the air close to the wall behind the swords. "You were fools to expect a few minor obstacles such as deep pits and frozen floods to impede us!" A few of the soldiers bore either large dents in their armor or thin layers of ice. "I suppose I should thank you, however, for being so courteous as to neutralize all of the safeguards."

"Bautan! You spectral slime-ball!" Ryo snarled and clenched his fists when he saw several soldiers leap down and take up positions around the runed blocks.

"I'm amused you fools believed even for a second that you could keep secrets from the Dynasty. My scrying magic allows me to observe your actions at all hours of the day!"

"Wait…have…have you…have you been watching me shower? YOU censored PERVERT! I'LL KICK YOUR ASS!" Tanya roared and pointed at him. Ryo grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back when soldiers nocked arrows and took aim.

"You'll do nothing of the sort, Lady Ronin. Besides, you should feel more honored than offended, for the World Armor was a product of the Nine combined as well as Mardrena's contribution. Master Talpa views it as his own armor perfected!"

"No!" Tanya cried, horrified by the notion.

"Though your armors have rebelled against their true Master, these weapons were crafted with potent magic, magic that I will bend to the Dynasty's will in time!"

"Rrrrgh! Bautan! Don't be a fool! This is no time for your ridiculous power schemes! The Totalitary are returning!" Anubis shouted. Bautan's skin paled more than should have been possible and his eyes widened in genuine concern. Then he frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"In that case…then it shall be _we_ who have the advantage!" The soldiers stepped closer to the sword block to secure them. Ryo growled, enraged at the sight. "I will permit you to live, as a reward for your arduous journey…Then again, I think I will just kill you now and be done with it!" The archers perched on the cliff pulled back on their bows. "Perhaps once the armors have fled your lifeless corpses, they may once again yield to the will of their true master!"

A hail of arrows could easily have killed the Ronin before any of them had a chance to armor up, and Bautan grinned with delight as his minions prepared to fire a volley. His glee turned to shock when arrows pierced the chests and heads of his archers, sending their smoking bodies tumbling off the cliff and into the pit. He and the remaining soldiers on the floor looked towards a lone soldier on the cliff, holding its bow taut. Its form shimmered and revealed Dais.

"Still the second-rate spell-caster as always, eh Bautan?" the Ronin of Illusion teased with a smirk. "So Rowen, how's my aim? Think I can compete with the master marksman of the team?"

"Your draw could use some work," Rowen chuckled then shrugged his shoulders, shedding his jacket in one motion and spreading his arms. His sub-armor changed to Eagle, and he took to the air firing bolts from his clawnchers and making use of the massive cavern.

"Stop them!" Bautan howled and hurled energy blasts at the Ronin, who easily avoided by scattering. Sage and Tanya lunged at the soldiers that dropped down from the ledge and the Elders attacked the ones already on the floor. Kento stood by the wall and held out his hand.

"Grr…there's more ice than rock in here. I can't influence it. Cye, you give it a shot."

"Okay…hmm…" Cye concentrated and splayed his fingers. A group of soldiers closed in. "Wait wait wait…I'm concentrating on the wrong thing!" he shook his head then closed his fingers and made a sideways chopping motion. A sheet of high-pressure water spewed out of the wall, slicing the attacking soldiers in half.

Ryo glanced about, looking for an opening. Rowen wove around icy stalactites, nimbly dodging enemy arrows while firing energy blasts back at them. The soldiers closest to the swords reached out and tried to pull them out. They refused to budge. "Oh confound it! Lift the block itself then!" Bautan snapped. More soldiers walked over to assist. Ryo looked at the ceiling.

"ROWEN! COVER ME!" he shouted, his cry ringing through the cavern. Rowen noticed the soldiers around the runed block and took aim. Bautan drifted back in time to avoid the blasts that obliterated his minions and saw Ryo bolting towards the block.

"NO! Not this time, Ronin Leader!" Bautan placed himself between the oncoming warrior and the block. He fired bolts of dark energy from his palms, but Ryo managed to dodge them.

A hurled spear came dangerously close to tearing the leather covering Dais' right shoulder. "Hey! Watch it! That's an early Christmas present, jerk!" he shot at the offending soldier. Anubis crumpled a soldier's helmet with his fingers and Sehkmet pried another's arm off completely. Cale grabbed one by the arm then hurled it around, using its body to slam away others. Tanya fired bullets from her left wrist and thrust the blades of her right into the face of a nearby soldier. Sage whirled around, slashing and stabbing soldiers with his light blades in an energetic dance.

"The swords are MINE!" Bautan focused his energy into a single powerful blast and shot point blank. Ryo crouched and pounced in time to avoid it, flying over Bautan and diving towards the runed block, hands outstretched to grab the hilts. Bautan turned around too late and saw Ryo skid over the floor. The battle in the cavern seemed to come to a standstill and all eyes turned to Ryo as he stood up and turned around. In each hand he held three swords.

"He has them! He has the swords! Send your powers to him, now!" Anubis shouted.

"ARMOR OF STRATA! TAO INOCHI!"

"ARMOR OF HALO! TAO REI!"

"ARMOR OF TORRENT! TAO SHIN!"

"ARMOR OF HARDROCK! TAO GI!"

"ARMOR OF CRUELTY! TAO CHUU!"

"ARMOR OF VENOM! TAO KO!"

"ARMOR OF ILLUSION! TAO NIN!'

"ARMOR OF CORRUPTION! TAO TEI!"

"ARMOR OF TYPHOON! TAO KI BOU!"

"OUR POWERS AS ONE!" They screamed in unison.

"No! No! NOO!" Bautan cried out helplessly as the bodies of the other Ronin started glowing. "Kill them! Kill them NOW!" he screamed and conjured an energy orb to dispose of Ryo. Arrows and spears passed through their bodies harmlessly as the other Ronin dissolved into spheres of colored light that flew towards Ryo and absorbed the impact of Bautan's blast.

Bautan recoiled from the eruption of darkness that flooded the floor of the pit. He closed his eyes and brought a wiry hand up to shield them, more from fear than actual blindness, as the surging mass of shadow seemed to burn his sight. The remaining Dynasty Soldiers watched, awed and horrified at the shape that coalesced from the seething void. Bautan dared open his eyes and look upon where Ryo had once stood.

The surface of the Armor of Gea seemed to pulse and shimmer, as if someone had rendered a starless sky into solid sheets. A v-shaped row of spikes ran down the middle of each shin plate, and dark fog seeped from the edges. The gauntlets looked rugged and warped; as if the wearer had thrust his hands into a molten lava flow and let it cool about his limbs. Wicked black talons tipped the fingers and the edges glowed red hot. Narrow plates surrounded the waist and curved downward, giving the appearance of twilight cirrus. The shoulders branched out into many spikes, resembling a delicate formation of crystal. The chest plate shifted like the still water of a cavern lake. The helmet crest spread majestically with multiple curling horns.

A large obsidian disc connected the six swords to the wearer's back, and indeed it made the World Armor resemble Talpa's. The wearer moved his arms testily and flexed his fingers, adjusting to the long talons. A pair of brilliant blue eyes stared out defiantly from behind the obsidian mask and fixed upon Bautan.

"Ahh! Now now, Ryo! You…you wouldn't dare use that armor's power, would you? After all, it cost Hariel his life!" Bautan stated nervously. The eyes narrowed and the talons clenched.

"**Try me**." Ryo spoke with a voice that sounded like ten. He reached back with his right hand and clutched the obsidian disc then brought it about and held it before him. Bautan gasped as energy of varying hues crackled along the edges of the swords, leaping from blade to blade.

"**WREATH OF CREATION**!"

Far above the surface, the once-quiet glacier shuddered violently then split open. A torrent of shadow erupted from the crevasse and blotted out the sky, scattering the majestic aurora borealis. Massive boulders of ice and stone flew into the air hundreds of feet before crashing down into the rift. Bautan had teleported away just in time and hovered at a distance, observing with horror as steam rose from where lava oozed out of newly opened vents and lighting flashed in freshly formed thunderheads. The glacier shuddered as if in torment.

"**Pray Bautan! Pray long and hard**!" he heard a voice echoing in his mind as if all ten Ronin Warriors cried in unison. "**That when the End Tide comes, we'll have other things to do than obliterate you!**" Bautan's eyes had nearly popped out of their sockets, and his mouth hung open in genuine terror. He closed his mouth and gulped hard. Actual sweat ran down his pale skin.

"The Master…will not…be p-p-pleased…"

* * *

"What is this place?" Ryo asked when he found himself standing in the middle of a large column of light in a darkened expanse. "This isn't the glacier…and the others? What happened to them?" he asked and looked down at himself, surprised to see his own sub-armor, and not the dreadfully majestic Armor of Gea. He turned around when he noticed other columns of light forming, like giant spotlights being turned on. He looked at the floor and blinked, startled to see his friends' unconscious bodies. Rowen and Anubis lay next to each other peacefully, as if they had both fallen asleep after an exhausting night. Ryo turned around and saw Kento and Dais in the same condition, as well as Cale and Sage, and Cye and Sehkmet. Tanya lay on her back alone in one column with her hands clasped over her stomach and her ponytails draped over her chest.

Ryo blinked, quite unnerved to see himself lying in the last column. "Okay…that's new…"

"YE CRUEL BASTARD!" Ryo heard the voice echoing from all directions. He blinked again and gasped, startled to see a furious red-haired amber-eyed woman beating at his chest. The environment had changed from the endless dark to a broken and scorched plain.

"There was no other option. It had to be done." Ryo heard Anubis' voice coming from his mouth, and realized he was witnessing memories through the eyes of the former Warlord.

"Ye dinnae have ta kill him!" the woman wearing the Armor of Typhoon wailed and buried her face against the brown and gold surcoat. A dark-blue armored hand reinforced with thick black plating moved to the woman's back. "We coulda saved him! Ye back-stabbing black-hearted daemon…"

"There was nothing of him left to save…" Ryo felt a wave of remorse overwhelm him; not the sorrowful kind, but the kind that came from a man who felt cheated of the chance to do battle with a worthy opponent. Mardrena wiped tears from her eyes and pushed away. She staggered towards the limp body of a male wearing Wildfire and sagged down beside him. The other three Dark Warlords stood close to Anubis, and the surviving four Ronin Warriors stood behind Mardrena. "…Whether you believe it or not…we grieve in our own way…we will take our leave of you… Perhaps, in the future, we may do battle again-without interference. ...farewell, Lady Ronin…" The Dark Warlords vanished from the plain, but Ryo remained behind to watch Mardrena cradle the body of a young man in her lap.

She wrapped one arm around his chest and reached up with her free hand and slipped off the helmet. It tumbled to the ground and a long length of black hair bound in a thick braid draped over the man's shoulder. Ryo caught a glimpse of the lifeless brilliant blue eyes before Mardrena placed two fingers over his eyelids and closed them. She shrugged off her own helmet and leaned down, nuzzling the dead man's cheek. Tears streamed from her eyes and onto his armor.

"She never forgave herself for even suggesting such an action…" Ryo looked behind him and found himself back in the black void surrounded by spotlights. Another spot turned on some distance away and illuminated a lone blue and white-robed figure walking towards him.

"Ancient!" Ryo cried in joy.

"I am not The Ancient," the figure snapped sternly. Ryo frowned. "I am…an echo…a remnant…I believe what you might refer to as 'a pre-recorded message'. You have secured the swords, but while I am glad to see that the ten of you have united, I imagine I would be dead to you now, or else I would have vehemently advised against such a course of action." The bodies of the unconscious Ronin and their respective light columns vanished, and the apparition paced next to Ryo. "Through Anubis, you saw the price of victory: the cost of the final act of desperation in the face of overwhelming odds. If you would wield these weapons and bend the Armor of Gea to your will, you must bear witness to the events that led to its inception."

The two found themselves in a shadowed hall of stone that smelled musty. Faint torchlight flickered from niches in the walls, illuminating time-worn murals covering both walls. "Tell me: have you seen these before?" Ryo stepped close to the wall and studied the paintings.

"No… but…" Ryo narrowed his eyes, recalling another memory not his own. "Anubis has…"

"What do you see here?" the apparition gestured to a group of four-legged equine figures.

"…It's a kirin…" Ryo shrugged and glanced at the apparition.

"Look closer." Ryo squinted at the mural. "Do kirin have wings?" The winged equines soared above the battlefield, and mounted on their backs were humanoid figures clad in armor. They wielded long swords and held them high above their heads. Ryo's eyes widened.

"Pegasi!...no…Pegacorns…they were still living creatures back then…that means…the Thangiens were here! They fought in that battle!" Ryo exclaimed in realization.

"So that was their name? Curious…they claimed kinship with man, and arrived en masse to come to our aid. While Hariel, Mardrena, and Anubis grappled with the Enemy on the ground, an even fiercer battle raged in the heavens." Ryo's view shifted from the stony hall to above the clouds. He watched, horrified and fascinated by the sight of hundreds of thousands of Pegacorns clogging the sky. They whinnied shrilly and soared alongside Dynasty air barges in pursuit of the tri-winged aircraft Cye had once described.

The nimble feather-winged short-furred creatures brought their sword-wielding riders close enough to the tri-wings to cut them through. Shafts of burning light fired from other craft occasionally struck true, and more than once were the flaming wrecks of Dynasty air barges accompanied by the sizzling remains of Pegacorns and their riders.

"Emboldened by their leader, Memner the Sky King, they brought all of their wrath to bear against the Enemy." Ryo watched helplessly as a colossal vessel like a disc covered with towering spires on both sides approached the brilliantly-armored rider who shouted encouragement to his people. The proud warrior cried out as a shaft of light struck him, consuming him and his steed, erasing them from view. "Disheartened by the loss of their king, and finding the battle turning ill against them, they fled through their great gate and destroyed it behind them, lest the Enemy give chase and follow them to their home world." Multitudes of surviving riders soared into the crackling maelstrom of a Transgalactic Gate maintaining a much closer orbit than the one Ryo knew from the present day.

Ryo didn't know what to feel as he watched the Gate shudder from multiple explosions that split the anchor band apart and sent the four orbital spires drifting in space. "It is a shame that they-who are so quick to anger and slow to forgive-would never forgive in themselves…" The battle continued in the heavens without the Pegacorn riders, but the tide turned swiftly against the Dynasty fleet. Even Talpa's fearsome Nether Spirits fled from the looming city-ships. Then a huge crackling shaft of darkness plowed through the city-ship, widening and ripping it apart from the inside out. Metallic wreckage rained towards the ground through the overcast sky, but the darkness did not stop at obliterating the remaining city-ships and their tri-wing squadrons.

"The swords were not created to grant access to such a powerful weapon in the event the Enemy returned from their long exile; they were created to ensure such a tragedy would never happen again." Ryo couldn't do anything but watch as Mardrena cried out, desperately trying to stop a power-maddened Hariel from erasing his own subjects from the field of battle. The other Ronin, bereft of their own powers, could only evade blasts of dark energy as their leader turned against them. Anubis staggered to his feet from where an earlier blow had thrown him and readied his scythe. While Hariel remained occupied with eradicating his friends, the Dark Warlord of Cruelty crept up behind him. Mardrena screamed both a plea and a warning.

Hariel convulsed from the blow and threw his head back. Anubis pulled back his bloodied scythe and watched as the Black Armor dispersed into wisps of shadow. Mardrena ran towards Hariel and caught him before he collapsed to the ground. She examined the gaping rend in his back, and knowing the wound was fatal, wailed in grief. Anubis stood close by and held his kusari-gama loosely in his hands. Drops of blood dripped from the tip onto the ground.

"In order to prevent the Armor of Gea from overwhelming its wearer, the swords absorb the spirits of the Ronin Warriors to act as a counter-balance." Ryo saw a writhing mountainous wave of darkness surging up high into the sky. Rowen, Anubis, Dais, Kento, Cye, Sehkmet, Cale, Sage, and Tanya rose to do battle with the shadow, keeping it occupied. "You may stand alone on the battlefield while wearing Gea, but know that your friends are ever with you.

"You have seen now with your own eyes what no mortal survived to set to record, and what those who yet remember are hesitant to recount in full. I will take my leave of you now, and you would do well to do the same and grant your friends a respite from their vigil. Never forget, Ronin Leader; a far greater strength exists in your spirits more potent than any armor. I would caution you not to use the Armor of Gea, unless there is _no_ other option."

* * *

Ryo found himself standing on the same bluff where they'd arrived. Reykjavík glittered on the horizon, seemingly undisturbed by the violent activity that had sundered the glacier. He looked down at his hands and scowled at the gnarled metallic claws. Then he reached behind him and grabbed the obsidian disc and brought it forward. Sockets connecting the pommels to the disc hinged inward and the sword wheel took on the appearance of a cage. Ryo plunged the swords into the ground and stepped back to make room as the swords erupted into light. The Armor of Gea dissolved into wisps of smoke and the swords vanished entirely, leaving the other Ronin lying on the ground. They slowly started to awaken and sat up on the ground.

"Hey, you guys allright?" Ryo asked.

"Oww…what happened?" Rowen moaned groggily and rubbed his eyes with his knuckles.

"What do you mean 'what happened'? You…you guys didn't see? You don't remember?"

"I remember us giving you our powers then waking up here," Cye shrugged.

"So? How'd the fight go? Did you give Bautan what for?" Tanya asked.

"Well…" Ryo turned to the side and looked at the smoldering ruins in the distance. "Let's just say Iceland's had better days."

"Woohoo! That'll show'em! I bet Talpa's shaking in his boots now that we can control the World Armor!" Kento pumped his fists into the air.

"We won't use it."

"What?" "Did he just say-" "Are you seirous?" the other younger Ronin exclaimed.

"We won't use the Armor of Gea until the End Tide itself, until the Enemy's practically on our doorstep. I've seen what it's capable of even when controlled. We should treat it like the doomsday weapon it was intended to be and only use it if there is absolutely no other option," Ryo stated firmly and folded his arms over his chest, closing his eyes.

"Then what was the point of going through the trouble of finding the swords to begin with?" Kento argued under his breath. The Elders looked pleased with the verdict. Ryo saw Anubis standing alone on the edge of the bluff staring out at the city. Ryo walked over to him.

"You didn't say you knew what they were called…"

"That is what they called themselves…and it seemed to suit them…" Anubis said in an exhausted sigh. "Know this Ryo; they will not care about good or evil, righteous or wicked. They will see us and they will call us imperfect and they will try to change us to suit their whims." Ryo nodded and looked at the city. Then he frowned thoughtfully and glanced back at Anubis.

"Did you know the Thangiens were there?"

"That was them? Huh…" Anubis looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "We heard them, but we never saw them ourselves. Back then we honestly thought the gods themselves had chosen to intervene on our behalf. So that's why they were so quick to put their full support behind us. I suppose that explains how they knew so much about us and our armors."

"No…no it doesn't, because when I asked King Torke back on Thanged, he told me that Danae and Pegasus weren't supposed to land on Earth. They didn't want to risk putting the planet in danger. Something changed their course just after they were launched and pretty much dropped Danae in our backyard," Ryo explained. Anubis' brow wrinkled in a confused scowl.

"Danae said she'd begun her sojourn two of our years before she arrived…that would place her departure in the thick of the Dynasty Wars…"

"Maybe…the gods really _did_ intervene…"

"Just not _our_ gods."

* * *

"I trust you are finding your accommodations to your liking, Mr. Cochran?"

"Yes…your crew has been very courteous to me…" Lazro Cochran adjusted his seat in the bulky metal chair and held the steaming cup of warm liquid close to his chest. The walls and ceilings of the chamber made him feel very small, but he maintained the façade of indifference.

"Now that I am assured you are more or less comfortable with your surroundings, I would know whether you harbor any _troublesome_ moral qualms retarding the tasks you will be put to…" He couldn't help but stare at the scaly orange lips, horribly intrigued at how fluidly they moved over the rows of sharp interlocking teeth and pronounced words in his own language.

"I'm of the mind that moral qualms are counterproductive…" Cochran smirked and shrugged.

"Good…that…is very…very…good …" The tips of thick white claws six inches long ran through coarse orange fibers. "While I am grateful that you support our agenda, I must impose on your patience. I hope you will forgive me if I bore you with a little history lesson."

"I don't mind at all."

"Excellent…" The teeth bared in a ghastly smile, causing Cochran to gulp. "I will begin with the creation of the Pegasi, and the story of the Exile of Pegasus…"


	15. From the Forge

From the Forge

By Mardrena

The squeal of metal on metal rang through the back yard. The long wiry tufted tail lashed like a whip and the thin arms moved quickly, one four-fingered hand bringing a large axe-like weapon with three sets of blades to block Sage and the other hand parrying Ryo's attacks with a short-bladed sword. The dainty golden hooves dug into the grass. Ryo and Sage staggered back, panting heavily. "Oh come now! Tired again? I have yet to shed a drop of sweat!"

"No…no fair…dude…" Ryo wheezed. "You're a Native…you're all…skinny…"

"Forgive us if we clumsy humans lack your uncanny endurance, T'plaureth," Sage grumbled and dug the tip of his blade into the ground and placed his weight against the sword.

"I should get you two a sip of _vouwynn_. It is a special drink distilled from chorinae and will infuse your weary limbs with vigor. I carry a flask on each of my trips…Amerure should have it on his saddle. I will be back shortly," the Native Thangien walked off in search of his mount. Ryo and Sage spent several more moments catching their breaths.

"How the heck does Azuro memorize all one-thousand moves?" Ryo blinked.

"People like Azuro and T'plaureth train from the moment they're old enough to lift a blade. Techniques like that become engrained into the very fiber of your being," Sage commented. "Hey…Ryo…do a Cresta's Wheel at me. I've been working on a new blocking technique and I wanna test its effectiveness," Sage said suddenly. Ryo's eyes widened and he made a face.

"Um…I dunno Sage. That sounds like a bad idea. We've seen what a Cresta's Wheel can do."

"Exactly. That's why I want to see how well I can block."

"Okay…I'm no Metraind, so I have no idea if I'd be doing this right…" Ryo looked hesitant before sheathing one sword and 'charging' the other. Despite his uncertainty, he could feel the weight pressing against his sword, as if he moved it through a tank of water. "Here goes!" Ryo swung his sword behind himself, then up and down. Sage angled his blade to deflect.

Both of them cried out in horror as the blade of the Sword of Light snapped in half and the Sword of Wildfire came dangerously close to slicing through Sage's arm, gracing the armguard. Sage landed on his backside and the remainder of his sword fell from his shaking hand.

"SAGE! Oh my God! Sage! You okay!" Ryo dropped his own sword and knelt beside Sage.

"Yeah…I-I'm fine…oh wow…look at that! My arm! It's like I can still feel the reverberation of the strike…" Sage whispered in awe and stared at his shuddering arm.

"Um…Sage…I kinda…sorta broke your weapon…" Ryo rubbed his ear sheepishly.

"Yeah. I know…it's just…wow…I did _not_ expect that…" Sage whispered.

"T'plaureth…isn't going to be happy…" Ryo cringed when he heard approaching hoofsteps.

* * *

Black Hawk skipped through the colonnade on the southern wall but slowed her pace when she saw a familiar figure leaning against the railing overlooking the city below. Chaizar in his leonine form rest his arms over the polished wood and gazed out at the landscape despondently. Black Hawk strode over and leaned beside him. "Heya Chaizar." Chaizar said nothing in response. "You spend a lot of time moping these days. You should go out more often." No reply. Black Hawk made a face and folded her arms over her chest. "Um…you know there's no real reason you're stuck in that form. You can change back whenever you feel-"

"I CAN'T STAND THE PAIN!" Chaizar screamed abruptly. Black Hawk moved close to him when she saw the fur under his eyes darkening from moisture. "I-I c-can't handle it! I just c-can't! I c-can't…" he whimpered softly. Black Hawk placed a sympathetic hand on his cheek. Chaizar's recovery had been painful, and while the priests had successfully healed his wound, when he attempted to revert to his human form he suffered indescribable agony. The Outworlder woman's blade had struck just so, that the nerves reacted violently when transforming. "I only agreed to this treatment on the condition that I retain my humanity!" Chaizar clenched his fists.

"…Humanity's overrated," Black Hawk snorted and leaned backwards against the rail.

"Easy for you to say! You have no attachments to your human form!"

"…You know…Balthazar and Scar stay in their forms full time out of respect for you…"

"…I know…It is…a needless gesture…but appreciated…" Chaizar whispered. He blinked when he felt Black Hawk's arms wrap around his thick neck and she pulled her face close.

"If you can't bring yourself to cheer up, I'll have to do something to fix that."

"…What sort of game are you playing, Black Hawk?" Chaizar raised an eyebrow.

"My favorite kind: the dangerous kind. Be good," Black Hawk tapped his nose and climbed onto the rail. "And I'll bring you back a surprise," she smirked before launching into the sky.

* * *

"I CANNOT FOR THE LIFE OF ME BLESSED MOTHER OF ROTH UNDERSTAND WHY YOU WOULD DO SUCH A THING!" T'plaureth roared, his short white fur bristling.

"I understand why you're upset. It's my fault for trying to block a Cresta's Wheel."

"A Cresta's Wheel isn't _meant_ to be blocked! It was specifically _designed_ to destroy an opponent's weapon!" T'plaureth stooped down and snatched up a thin fallen branch. He walked over to a tree with a low hanging branch and began charging his skinny twig. He sprang into the air and swung down. Wood groaned and snapped as the twig completely sliced through the branch. "SEE STICK! SEE STICK? SEE STICK DO _THAT_!" he shook the twig roughly.

"You're getting awfully upset considering it wasn't your weapon that got trashed…"

"I still don't understand how it happened. I mean, a nodatchi is a heavy blade meant for crushing blows. By all rights, mine should've been the one that broke," Ryo rubbed his hair.

"The Cresta's Wheel cushions your blade with multiple layers of force and when unleashed brings the accumulated force onto a single point of the blade. Metal strength doesn't matter."

"This…is strange…" T'plaureth and Ryo glanced at Sage, who tried pressing the broken halves of his sword together. "Normally our armors can repair themselves…"

"RyoTakin probably traumatized it too badly being you two are of equal power levels."

"Wait, you're saying it's like the sword is _still_ being broken?" Ryo raised an eyebrow.

"I'm betting I'll have to try and get it repaired at the Pinnacle cavern," Sage muttered.

"Let us hope your efforts prove fruitful. A warrior without a sword is like a man without a-" T'plaureth cut himself off and blinked when he saw the looks given to him by Ryo and Sage.

"Without a what?" Ryo growled and narrowed his eyes.

"Just fix your blade," T'plaureth scowled and snorted his bangs away from his face.

* * *

Australa flipped the heat shield up and held the glowing hot rod away, leaning towards the courier trying to speak above the din. She nodded understandingly and dropped the glowing rod into a trough of fluid and slipped off her helmet. She began pulling off her gloves and pulled the lower edges of her apron up and buttoned them close to her shoulder.

"Where do you think you are going?" a stern female voice echoed from the High Forge. Australa winced and looked up over her shoulder.

"My sister requests I travel to the Oldworld to retrieve her pairmate!"

"So you place your family in higher regard than your work?" black eyes with burning bronze pupils narrowed in a scowl. Australa hunched her shoulders meekly but her expression lightened when a rich chuckle echoed from the High Forge. "Then who am I to tread on Ritho's domain? You may go, with my blessing." Australa smiled and scooped up her mallet and slipped it into its belt loop. "Just make sure you finish your commission when you return!"

"I will!" Australa shouted before scampering towards the entrance and exiting Peirolyth. She cupped her hands to her mouth and let out a shrill cry. Sandstorm swooped into view and landed in the courtyard. "We get to visit the Oldworld!" she giggled and heaved herself into the saddle. "I have longed to see it! Where Tiainte came from! Where the Morind de Witheren live! Vethu!"

Sandstorm grumbled from being rushed but vaulted into the sky and fired his thrusters, shielding himself and his rider before breaking through the atmosphere. Australa's eyes went wide with awe as they approached the Transgalactic Gate and plunged into the vortex. She had never traveled alone before and held on tight to the rein cord, squinting at the widening gap at the end of the tunnel. The air popped on exit and Sandstorm glanced about to get his bearings.

"There! Beside the large landmass! Paigasurin gave you the coordinates, right?" Sandstorm neighed in acknowledgement and folded his wings. The air shield flashed, thickening to withstand the friction of entry. Australa held her breath while the air burned outside, and Sandstorm growled in concentration. The air burst again and they emerged into bright blue skies not so much unlike Thanged, with but one sun instead of the twins of Thuruk.

A hyperactive child bounced up and down in her seat aboard an airliner while her mother read a novel in the next seat. She glanced out the window and her eyes went wide. "Momma! Momma! Look! There's a flyin' horsie outsa!"

"It's just the clouds, dearie…stop jumping around so much and put your seatbelt on."

Australa couldn't help but glance in all directions at the myriad landmasses and massive oceans, so much unlike Thanged's forests, plains, and winding rivers. Sandstorm searched for the large estate and its idyllic surroundings as Pegasus had once described. He dropped altitude when he spotted it and came in for a landing next to the red and white automobile parked in the driveway. Amerure craned his head up from grazing and whinnied a greeting.

"Good. He is still here. I wonder what delayed him…" Australa mused as she dismounted. She patted Sandstorm on the neck and let him join Amerure while she walked towards the door. She rang the doorbell and folded her arms behind her back, rocking up and down on her heels.

"Hello? Ohh! You must be Danae's little sister! I imagine you're here for T'plaureth. He's inside by the dining room table…" an auburn-haired woman asked when she opened the door.

"MiaTakin? Are you allright? You look rather…ragged…" Australa grimaced.

"Yeah…I've been giving Anubis computer lessons lately, and I'm trying to use the approach of it being a book with no pages, but he keeps getting the old BSOD…"

"MIA! THIS THRICE-BLASTED CONTRAPTION HAS TRIED MY PATIENCE FOR THE LAST TIME!"

"NO! Don't punch it again!" Mia cried and ran inside with startling speed. The door remained open and Australa peeked inside before crossing the threshold. She stepped onto a floor mat and glanced about the interior then looked down at her boots darkened with soot and grime from Peirolyth. She sat down on the floor and struggled to pull them off her feet.

Australa froze when she sensed something and glanced to the side, startled to see two bright brown eyes and a large nose framed by bold black stripes and thick spikes of white fur. "Chiaje! Ohhhh! You are so much more beautiful than Danae said you were!" Australa wrapped her arms around the thick neck and nuzzled the tiger fiercely. Whiteblaze twitched his ears and squeezed his right eye shut as Australa raked her fingers through his fur, pushing it in all directions. "Ohhh I wish I could stay with you longer, but my pair-brother is very late. I am glad to have met you!" Australa sprang to her feet and headed for the dining room. Whiteblaze blinked several times then shook his head and began licking his paw to wash his face and brush his fur back into place.

"I dunno Sage…maybe it's because our armors were altered…"

Australa glanced about the room and identified CyeTakin, KenTakin, and RoweTakin gathered about the long table with T'plaureth standing between RyoTakin and SageTakin. T'plaureth blinked and leaned to the side, spotting her. "Ah, Australapaela? Aurorakhan sent you to fetch me? I apologize for my tardiness, but as you can see I have had somewhat an emergency on my hands," he explained and nodded towards something on the table. The Morind gave her the briefest of polite greetings before turning their attention to the broken sword.

"You already tried the Pinnacles?" Rowen asked.

"Yeah. The sword didn't respond. I'm starting to think T'plaureth's right and the sword is actually _afraid_ to be repaired…" Australa stepped close to the table and leaned down to study the weapon with a critical eye. Ryo leaned to the side and raised an eyebrow at the sight of her gaze darting about, as if trying to commit every square inch of surface to memory. He just assumed she felt intrigued being this close to the actual weapon of a Ronin Warrior.

Ryo's eyes went wide the same time Sage felt the most unnerving sensation as if he had been stripped bare and dropped in the midst of a crowd. He turned around jerkily and saw Australa peering down at his sword. In a matter of seconds she had completely dismantled it, separating the pommel and hilt from the blade. She had one arm folded over her chest and stroked her chin.

"…Why did you do that?" Sage asked calmly, eyes wide in shock. Australa glanced at him, apparently totally oblivious to having committed any sort of offense.

"I can fix this," she simply replied.

"Such a feat is beyond your skill, Australa…" T'plaureth argued. Australa set her jaw and stepped around Sage and stalked over to her pair-brother and pressed a finger to his chest.

"Do you know the melting point of dererium?" T'plaureth blinked and stared down at the much shorter girl. "Do you know the Hymn of Deres?" The Native took a step back as Australa pressed forward. "Do you know the Seven Sacred Strikes?" T'plaureth's white fur turned slightly pinkish from embarrassment. "You know how to wield weapons. I know how to make them. Do not presume to inform me of my limits and _let me work_!" Australa growled firmly then whirled around to face Sage. "SageTakin! With your permission, I would like to reinforce your blade with dererium," she stated and placed a fist over her chest.

"Couldn't you just mend the broken blade?" Sage asked. Australa shook her head grimly.

"The metal has already been compromised. See here?" she walked back to the table and picked up the hilt half and held it up to Sage. "You can tell from these striations, the metal was brittle to begin with." Sage squinted, unable to see what she meant. "Not to mention poorly balanced…watch this." Sage winced when Australa placed the flat of the blade on her wrist. The blade wobbled from side to side. "Even with half the blade missing, it should not be doing that. A blade needs to be perfectly balanced. If it is too top-heavy, it becomes easy for an opponent to disarm you. Whoever designed this blade was a great artist, but a poor metalworker."

"Wow don't let ol' Suzie hear you say that…" Kento grumbled.

"No…mending would not suffice…I would have to recast the blade…"

"'Recast'? What do you mean?" Sage narrowed his eyes and cocked his head to the side.

"Well…I would have to melt the blade down into its base metal and remake the blade."

"I dunno Sage…don't you think Suzunagi would've had a backup plan?" Ryo asked.

"Maybe this _is_ her backup plan," Cye reasoned. Australa held out the hilt half and Sage accepted it and turned it about in his hands. He looked at her and handed it back to her.

"Do what you can," he said. Australa nodded: eager but reserved.

"You mentioned you had tried repairing it at a location earlier?" Sage nodded. "Then that will be my focus to work! I will need to send Sandstorm back to Thanged to retrieve materials…"

T'plaureth let out a heavy sigh and his long ears drooped. "I might as well take my leave of here and leave this in your…_capable_ hands…" he waved a hand and walked towards the door.

"I will also need help from…" Australa raised a hand and waggled her fingers as she moved her hand from side to side. "You! I will require your unique abilities." Kento blinked when she pointed at him. "You should also retrieve KayuTakin. I can remake the blade, but in order to bind your power to it, she'll need to participate in the…the…the…um…the…" Australa squeezed her eyes shut and began snapping her fingers. "The…the…thablisk…the…the..."

"…Ritual?" Ryo wrinkled his nose. Australa clapped her hands together and pointed at him.

"Yes! Ritual!"

* * *

Sunlight shone into the gaping ruin of the Halo cavern. Australa assembled slotted planks into a set of troughs while Kento sculpted the shattered central pillar into a circular pit. Australa walked over to inspect his progress. "The outer wall needs to be thicker to hold in heat." Kento nodded and made wide circling gestures. The rock shifted to match his commands.

"Sorry. This is my first time doing this sort of thing…" Kento couldn't help but glance at the Pegasi colt as he sniffed at certain rocks and oddly enough devoured them. Sandstorm had returned some time earlier laden with sacks of all sizes and weights and deposited his load.

"The first thing we are taught as students is how to construct mobile forges such as these."

"You call _this_ mobile?" Kento chuckled.

"Well, they are typically require the better half of a day to construct, though not many would have the aid of Khanto Earthrider," Australa grinned and began upending what looked like uncut gems into the pit. Kento smiled at the compliment. Australa leaned into the pit and smoothed out the clear red stones with her palm then used her fist to make an impression in the center. While the two worked on assembling the forge, Sage sat on a boulder at one end of the chamber.

Kento finished shaping the pit and began pulling earth up into a short pedestal. Sage noticed how Sandstorm seemed to be waddling rather than pacing. His hooves left deep impressions in the floor. Australa poured out some sort of fluid into one trough and a sack of oily sand into another. She pawed through the sand gleefully, smoothing it out and packing it tight into the trough. Then she used a long strip of metal to scrape off the top layer, smoothing it completely. She set the broken halves on the surface and used a small thin blade to trace an outline.

Using a length of knotted string, she measured to the side and carved four smaller indentions into the sand then used a tool to scoop out shallow cavities. She stopped and throat-clicked at Sandstorm the same time Kento finished with the pedestal. The Pegasi waddled over and Australa took the rein cord and guided him to stand over the pedestal. She glanced from his oddly-distended belly to the table then nodded at him. Kento and Sage watched, curious.

Sandstorm's midsection slid open and out dropped a crafted chunk of metal that landed on the pedestal with a loud clang. Sandstorm backed away and Australa placed a small glass box filled with water and a single bead atop the anvil. She scowled in disappointment when the bead overlapped with markings in the glass. Kento made a tilting motion with his hand. The pedestal shifted and the bead lined up perfectly between the markings. Australa gasped happily at him.

"I have to say that's the first time I've seen a Pegasi throw up an anvil out of its stomach." Sage looked over his shoulder and saw Ryo, Rowen, Cye, and Kayura. Their attention turned back to the completed forge complex as Australa carefully retrieved a small box of bluish crystal. She gently removed the lid and with a set of tongs reached inside and tweaked out a glowing green chunk of a substance that shimmered and smoked. She hurriedly sidestepped to the pit and held the chunk over the indention she'd made earlier and dropped it in, shaking the tongs.

"Phergon, in its raw form, can burn as hot as the flames of a titanodracoasaur; even hotter than the flames of Rhakka." Ryo chuckled upon hearing that bold remark. "My brother leads raids to Planet Khilio to retrieve fresh supplies. It is the only other place it can be harvested…besides Planet Thunthen…" The tiny green chunk crackled as green flames flooded the pit. Instead of damaging the outer wall, the reddish gemstones contained the heat. With the forge fully ignited, Australa had to don protective gear. She slipped a heat visor over her copper hair and reached up to her shoulders, unfurling her thick apron. She fastened a pan lined with ceramic tiles to the outer wall of the forge with ceramic clamps. Then she placed four small ingots of metal into the pan and stepped away to let them melt while she completed the sword mold.

The next stage made Sage's gut churn with anxiety as Australa took out a second ceramic pan and placed the broken halves of his blade within. While those heated up, Australa checked the contents of the first pan and removed the clamps from the outer wall. She poured molten dererium into each of the four smaller cavities without spilling a drop. She glanced at the second pan but saw the shards had not yet melted and walked over to her packs. It took quite a bit of rummaging to locate the long burlap bundle she desired. She unfurled it and set it on the ground and began spreading out what looked like wide, thick, greasy leaves from some plant.

Despite her gawky appearance, Australa proved to be every bit the professional as she retrieved the molten shards and carried the pan over to the partially filled mold. She took the utmost care in pouring into the centermost cavity, making sure not a drop remained. Kayura stood off to the side chanting under her breath. Such an endeavor had not been attempted in the past five-hundred years, so she took precautions to ensure the blade remained linked with Halo.

Australa took a swig of water from a bottle one of the Ronin had provided her and nibbled some dried meat while she waited for the strips to become hard enough to remove from the mold. She tapped the strips gingerly with her small blade then began prying them loose. Australa used two pairs of tongs to pick them up and carry them to the bed of leaves and set them down gently, arranging two of the thin strips on the bottom close together and the core formed from the Sword of Light on top of them. She retrieved the other two strips and set them above the core, then began peeling the leaves into strips and binding them around the assembled pieces.

Overhead in the exposed sky, the sun began shifting towards the end of day. Cye and Ryo ported back to the estate, deciding to retire to bed while Kento and Rowen remained to watch. Sage hadn't budged from his seat and braced his elbows against his knees and clasped his hands under his chin. Australa paused when she heard a curious popping sound coming from the forge and looked up to see Kento holding a metal pan high above the forge's heat. Kento shrugged and clamped one hand down on the lid when small fluffy kernels threatened to surge out of the pan.

Australa held a gloved hand to her mouth trying to contain a giggle. Kento smiled, feeling a rare admiration for this Thangien girl who had such an affinity for shaping metal and earth. _If only she were a couple years older…_ he frowned and sighed wistfully. Australa finished wrapping the strips together and picked it up by the exposed lower end of the core, where the blade would eventually be attached to the hilt. She thrust the leaf-wrapped strips into the fire. The leaves sizzled while Australa turned it about to heat the rod evenly.

Sage scowled when he heard a loud crunching sound and he glanced to the side and snorted upon seeing Kento stuffing handfuls of popcorn in his mouth. Kento offered the pan to him, but Sage declined…until the faintest strained gurgle emanated from his stomach. Sage relented and retrieved a modest handful. He ate one kernel at a time and watched as the leaves slowly started to burn away, exposing glowing metal. The strips and core had melded together, producing a long solid strip to be fashioned into a blade. Australa swung the strip out of the forge and placed it atop the anvil and removed her mallet from its loop. She closed her eyes and began chanting.

"What's that she's saying? That word she keeps repeating…" Sage whispered.

"Deres, the Father of Metal. Kinda like a patron saint of metalworkers. He's credited with discovering naturally-occurring dererium in Thanged's polar caps," Rowen explained.

"Naturally-occuring? I thought dererium is an alloy."

"It is. Solar particles grazing the volcanoes there give the lava unique properties. They call it 'cooked in the earth and seasoned by the stars'."

Australa finished her prayer and opened her eyes. The strip still glowed red hot as she leaned back to make the first strike. She swung down with her mallet, striking the strip soundly.

The metallic shriek jolted Kayura out of her trance and sent Australa reeling. Sage flinched, feeling as if something had raked down his spine. Rowen's eyes widened when thin bolts of energy erupted from the heated strip and sparks sprayed in Australa's face. The heat shield protected her flesh and hair, thankfully, and she scowled at the strip. Kayura watched as the Thangien girl began flipping her mallet up and down in her grip, catching it neatly each time.

Australa struck the edge of the strip, and again the metal spewed energy at her. Sparks seemed to hang in the air from each swing. Sage Date had always prided himself on being a polite person, but his weapon insisted on being rude. Unfazed by the discharges, Australa began a process of hammering and reheating that would last into the dawn. Sage flinched after each strike, but the discharges became less and less violent as the metal yielded to Australa's will.

"Thangiens believe in their early history, only the light of the twin moons shone in the night sky, and they felt lonely in the dark. Eyurodin toiled at the fires of Peirolyth and the sparks flying off her anvil became constellations to comfort the people," Rowen said sleepily.

"Such a feat was only possible," Australa shouted between strikes. "Because of her own mallet, Starforger, said to be crafted from the matter of a dying sun. That is how she was able to re-forge the swords of Hau-iyo. All mallets are made in Starforger's likeness." The sun started to peek into the chamber at the same time Australa finished the edge of the blade and slipped it into the trough of liquid to quench it. The liquid bubbled and hissed but did not erupt with steam.

The partially completed blade shone with a dull light when Australa pulled it out of the trough and set it atop the anvil. She summoned Sandstorm over and placed her hands on his cheeks and held his head steady. The Pegasi's eyes glowed and he focused his eye beams on the edge of the blade. Australa moved his head from side to side, making sure to keep the beam even each pass. She paused to turn the blade over then walked back to Sandstorm to begin the second half.

Kayura maintained her chant while Australa finished honing the edge and the metal gradually took on a mirror polish. Australa tapped Sandstorm's cheek and the eye beams shut off when she seemed satisfied with the edge. She walked over to the anvil and tilted the blade so the edge faced up and reached to the back of her head and plucked out a single strand of hair.

"Ooh! I saw this on a cartoon! She's gonna test the sharpness of the blade!" Kento whispered and slapped Sage in the shoulder with the back of his hand. The copper strand drifted down and instead of catching on the edge, continued falling to the floor as two separate strands. Australa fetched the hilt and pommel and fluidly reassembled the sword and sheathed it. She moved to the side of the anvil and pulled off her heat shield and knelt on the ground, holding the scabbard up with her fingertips. Kento thumped Sage in the back and Sage slid off of his seat shakily. His legs felt stiff and his eyes felt sticky since he hasn't moved or slept since Australa started. Kayura had finished her chant and walked over to stand next to Rowen.

Australa kept her gaze to the floor when Sage reached out and took the scabbard gently. Seeing the restored blade comforted him. Oddly enough, Australa remained kneeling.

"She wants you to test its strength against the anvil she used," Rowen said. Sage raised an eyebrow but respected the request and fully drew the blade, plunging the tip of the scabbard into the floor. Australa scooted back and Rowen, Kayura, and Kento gave the anvil a wide berth. Sage readied himself to strike, the blade humming as he swung back then up.

"HEEYAAAGH!" he let out a throaty cry and brought the full weight of the blade against the anvil. The blade buried itself into the ground beneath the stone pedestal. Cracks spread along the base near the floor and the stone crumbled under the weight of the two halves of the anvil.

"Holy crap!" Kayura exclaimed, drawing glances from Rowen and Kento. Sage stared at the blade wide-eyed with shock. He frowned when he saw Australa still staring at the floor.

"This is a wonderful blade. You honor me with your craftsmanship," he stated with a smile. Australa looked up at him cautiously and a smile slowly crept onto her face. She sprang to her feet and buttoned her apron back up by her shoulders.

"Poor Ryo and Cye, they're gonna wish they stayed to watch. I bet they didn't think she could finish this quick," Rowen chuckled.

"The core was being quite stubborn…" Australa shrugged and holstered her mallet.

"Yeah, I noticed," Sage laughed and sheathed the blade.

"Shoot, I'll have to get Ryo to break my weapon sometime so you can re-forge it to be all awesome," Kento commented with a grin. Australa glared at him sharply.

"How dare you say such a thing!" Kento blinked, genuinely startled by her outrage. "Eyurodin would _never_ sanction such a selfish weapon!"

"Whoa! I wasn't being serious! I was just…you know-kinda…" Kento sputtered.

"Even in jest, do not make such a claim!" Australa snapped and snatched up the remaining packs of her equipment and threw them onto Sandstorm's back. "I am late, and I have a commission to finish. I will take my leave. Thu the thakka," she growled and sprang into the saddle and jerked the reins so hard, Sandstorm squealed in protest before springing into the air.

"…wow Kento…that was smooth," Rowen grumbled. Kento hung his head in guilt.

Sandstorm chirped a question, noticing Australa still fuming. "Perhaps you are right …I mean…_I_ repaired a Morindae's blade! Who else can say the same!" Australa giggled as Sandstorm ascended. "The others will be so jealous! And the Goddess, well she already knows: I would not have been able to do it without her! Just wait till I get home and tell T'plaureth!"

"You're not going anywhere, Outworlder!"

Australa barely had time to glance over her shoulder and gasp when something collided with Sandstorm and sent him spinning. He fired his wing thrusters to stabilize and glanced over his shoulder and saw the saddle empty. He screamed in despair before plunging back towards Japan.

* * *

"Wakey wakey, Outworlder!" Australa's vision remained blurry for a few moments until she felt cold water splash against her face. She sputtered and shook her hair, becoming aware of lying on her side on a tiled floor. Her vision focused and she identified a lithe young woman with black feathered wings and taloned feet and three tall beastly-looking males.

"I greet you, little Outworlder…" Australa's gaze snapped forward and her eyes widened upon seeing the dark figure seated in an elaborate throne. "Welcome to my domain."

"…Ouagli…" Australa stammered, shuddering slightly.

"Hah hah haaa! I see I am known even to your barbaric kind! You honor me with such reverent fear!" Talpa chuckled richly. All of a sudden Australa narrowed her eyes and frowned.

"…Roth sees you…She will strike you down! She will lay you low for what you have done!" she cried and clenched a fist. Talpa's rigid fanged mask managed to register mild surprise.

"Young lady, I suggest you mind your manners in the presence of the Master!" Australa glanced first at the gaunt blue hand on her shoulder then at the narrow face of the robed entity.

"Naditanyankina!" Australa socked Bautan in the face so hard his face caved in.

"Oh hoo hoo, I have _no_ idea what she said, Bautan, but I'm fairly certain she called you something nasty," Black Hawk snickered. Bautan reached into the cavity and pinched his nose.

"Indeed!" he squeaked in a nasally tone as he pulled his face out to its original shape. "These Outworlders' penchant for profanity is rivaled only by the Lady Ronin!"

"YOU!" Australa flinched when she heard the deep growl and looked at the hulking leonine figure. "I _thought_ I recognized you! You're related to her, aren't you?" Australa blinked, confused when the lion-man pointed at her. "You're her sister! The one who did this to me!" he gestured to a large puckered scar in his stomach. "It's her fault I'm trapped in this form!"

"No! You are wrong!" Australa shook her head. Black Hawk raised an eyebrow, expecting the girl to plead for her life. "My sister does not make monsters out of men! Whatever you suffered you brought upon yourself!" Chaizar's fur bristled and he splayed his claws.

"Cheeky little bitch! I'll rip you limb from limb!" he roared and took a step towards the girl. Australa remained defiant but flinched in surprise when a crackling black energy bolt struck Chaizar and sent him crashing into the opposite wall of the throne room. Black Hawk gasped.

"Chaizar restrain yourself!" The hideous metallic face turned towards Australa. "She is our _guest_…and as such, shall be afforded all the _courtesy_ of the Dynasty…" he declared softly.

"…you mean maim and torture?" Balthazar quipped. Scar slapped him upside the head.

"You wonder why you have been brought before me. I could kill you easily, and by all rights I should, as much trouble as your brethren have caused." Australa pushed herself to stand.

"I am Australapaela, last daughter of Vai Stel Vethu! We of Thanged do not fear death!"

"Is that the same 'unwavering resolve' your ancestors displayed when they came here centuries ago?" Australa hunched her shoulders and averted her gaze. "A death without purpose… that would bring great _shame_ unto your family, would it not?" Talpa wove his fingers together. "I know more about your people than you would like to admit!"

_What the hell is he doing? Just kill her already! I didn't bring her here for tea and biscuits_… Black Hawk scowled and threw a glance over her shoulder to check on Chaizar.

"I would offer a compromise, little Outworlder; that you be bestowed an honor without compare by being granted the chance to craft a blade worthy of an emperor. Bautan!" Bautan floated to the front of Australa and unfurled a large sheet of linen and set it on the floor. She took a tentative step back, remembering all too well the stories she'd heard from Rona and Tornath about Ouagli and his dark arts. She glanced from Talpa to Bautan then at the canvas before taking a step back forward and leaning down.

"This…this is…all wrong…" Australa muttered and cocked her head to one side, examining the sketch of a weapon with a thick blade like a curling tongue of flame and a twisted spiked hilt. She reached up to one of the braziers nearby and-to everyone's surprise- tweaked out a lone ember and shook it to extinguish the dark green flame. "The blade needs to be narrow towards the tip…and this hook in the lower edge…should be moved…to lessen the risk of disarming…" Everyone else watched intrigued as she knelt on the floor and began drawing a rough sketch on the floor itself. "This needs to curve this way, to protect the grip…whoever designed this was an absolute nasurin…" she grumbled. Bautan's left eye twitched ever so lightly.

"Hah hah! Look how the task at hand excites her!" Talpa crowed. Australa scowled and tossed the coal away and stood up, dusting herself off and straightening her shoulders.

"I have modified the design sufficiently enough for another to make, but I will not craft this."

"Oh but you will. You will because I _command_ it," Talpa stated, eyes flaring.

"Only the Goddess commands me! Besides…I am a mere student of Peirolyth. I do not feel my skill is suited for such an endeavor," she sniffed and folded her arms over her chest.

"You are far too modest, little Outworlder." Talpa waved a hand and summoned down the viewing screen. Australa turned around and gasped in dismay when she saw images projected of her laboring at the Halo cavern. Black Hawk and Chaizar glanced at each other, disappointed.

"I…I lack…the proper facilities…" Australa struggled and placed a hand on her mallet.

"I assure you, everything you require will be provided." Two Dynasty Soldiers walked into the throne room carrying between them a wicker basket laden with ingots of a dark-colored metal. "These ingots have been infused with the essence of those who defied my will." While the Demon King spoke, Australa brought her arm close to her face and shook her head. She blinked several times from discomfort. Despite her best efforts, her knees went one way while her torso went the other and she crumpled to the floor in a faint. "What is this?" Talpa laughed richly.

"Looks like they're not as immune to our power as they make themselves out to be," Black Hawk muttered. Scar stepped forward and scooped the Thangien girl up in his thick scaly arms.

"Take her to the dungeons! Let her contemplate her fate and prepare!" Talpa bellowed.

* * *

"Don't beat yourself up too badly over it, Kento. She's not much older than Yulie; kids get easily offended," Cye comforted while Kento waved a finger through the air lazily from where he sat on the front stoop. Small ridges of earth swirled in the dirt.

"It was still a stupid thing to say, but what can you expect from me, huh?"

"She'll get over it, once she gets home and has a chance to cool down," Sage reasoned then looked up when he heard a distant whinny and identified White Wind approaching.

"Hey! Hey guys! Is T'plaureth still here? I'm ready for those lessons," Yulie hopped out of the saddle and fished out his bokken. Ryo concealed a snicker with his hand.

"He's _been_ gone since yesterday," Rowen informed.

"You missed him _and_ Australa. You shoulda seen it: Sage broke his sword by accident and she fixed it up better than ever," Cye added.

"It was pretty cool. She used Sandstorm's eye lasers to hone the edge," Sage grinned and drew his sword to illustrate.

"What? Awwwww! Well I would've been here, but _somebody_ decided to take Mom out to run errands!" Yulie growled at White Wind, who twitched his ears and chirped. "She did _not_ 'coerce' you! She _bribed_ you! I know the smell of carrots on your breath, and you don't even really breathe!" White Wind squealed in protest and laid back his ears.

* * *

Earlier…

"Um… White Wind?" The Pegasi colt opened an eye a crack and saw Yulie's mom standing next to him. "Hi. Listen, I have a big favor to ask you: I have some mail I need to drop off, but my husband took the car, and…it's too far to walk…" White Wind snorted and turned away. "I know you're not supposed to be seen in public, but it's sort of an emergency… I thought you could just drop me off on the roof and I can take the stairs down…" White Wind closed his eyes. "Please? Pleaaaase?" White Wind snorted and stuck his nose in the air. "…Pleeeeaaaaase?"

White Wind's olfactory sensors registered a familiar aroma and he glanced at her. Mrs. Yamano smiled innocently and held up a large plate overflowing with carrots. White Wind squealed in disgust and threw his head to the opposite side. He opened his eye lenses a crack and eyed the plate but turned away once more. Mrs. Yamano nudged the plate closer and White Wind glanced at it again. He shifted his gaze from side to side then reached over and snatched a single carrot from the top and began chewing. He lowered one wing to let her mount.

"Yay! Thank you _so_ much! I'll give you the entire plate when we get back home!"

* * *

"Wow Yulie…I had no idea your mom could be so…persuasive…" Ryo chuckled.

"I bet she could get Dais to do her bidding," Rowen teased. While Yulie pouted the other Ronin-even the previously glum Kento-shared a good laugh. They all looked up when they heard a shrill cry from the air. "What the-is that…Sandstorm? What the heck's he doing back here?"

"Whoa…Australa isn't with him…" Cye noted as the hysterical Pegasi landed in the yard and began flapping his wings at full stretch and stamping his hooves rapidly.

"You've talked to a Pegasi before, Ryo. What's he saying?" Sage asked.

"I don't know! He's upset-about Australa, obviously-but I can't make sense of what he's saying," Ryo whispered and put a hand to the side of his head.

"Anyone else speak Pegasi?" Kento asked.

"I can!" Yulie volunteered and he and White Wind stepped towards Sandstorm. White Wind began chirping in the strange sounding language of Pegasi and Sandstorm replied with frantic squeals. The guys glanced back and forth at each Pegasi, listening to the curious conversation. White Wind nodded his head and chattered some more. Sandstorm tossed his head and pawed the ground with a hoof, whining pitifully. All the while Yulie's eyes widened with each exchange, and just before his eyes looked ready to pop out of their sockets, he looked at Ryo.

"Sandstorm says Australa's been kidnapped by Black Hawk!"

* * *

Australa huddled in the musty stone cell with her back against the wall and arms folded over her knees. She looked up when she heard a distant clang and watched Black Hawk approach. "Come to gloat at your prize? Take pleasure in my shame? If I do as Ouagli commands, I will damn my soul forever by crafting an unsanctioned blade…" Australa lamented.

"…Look…the Master won't care if the blade you make is good or evil, as long as you just make it for him," Black Hawk walked close to where Australa sat and crouched beside the bars. "And I don't think your god will care either, because the very act of crafting brings glory to her name, right? And there is no greater honor for a Thangien, right?" Australa blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Just make it and everyone walks away happy. Bring honor to yourself, the Master, and your god." Australa stared at Black Hawk, uncertain whether if some trick of the dim lighting in the dungeons caused her eyes to appear inverted with burning bronze pupils and black irises. Black Hawk stood up and walked off, leaving Australa to ponder. The Thangien girl glanced at the hall when no more than a couple minutes later she heard the telltale click of talons on stone.

"Back so soon, vieke? You barely just left a moment ago…"

"What the _hell_ are you talking about? Stupid Outworlder…" Black Hawk narrowed yellow eyes with black pupils and unlocked the door. A mixture of hope and confusion flooded Australa and she slowly rose to her feet. Black Hawk grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the hall and pushed her away roughly. "Master Talpa sent me down here to drag your skinny ass to the Nether caves. If it were up to me I'd stuff you in an oven and feed you to Chaizar as comfort food, but Buttface decided to ruin my own plan." she sneered as she escorted the Thangien.

Australa kept her arms close as they proceeded towards the innermost recesses of the fortress. They arrived at a vast cavern filled with simmering orange liquid that did not have the inspiring warmth of lava. Australa recoiled again, feeling ill from the very environment. The air felt smothering, like excessive ash or pollen. She clamped a hand over her mouth and nose.

"Is something the matter, little Outworlder?" Talpa rumbled from where he stood beside a hideous-looking anvil on the shore of the glowing lake. Australa blinked several times.

"I-I…am…fine…" _Roth strengthen me_… she prayed and unfurled her apron.

"Remember: perform this task for me, and you have my word that you may leave freely…"

"I have taken the liberty of casting the blade as per your style," Bautan gestured to the partially formed metal scythe. "Now all that remains is for you to refine it and add your _personal_ touch." Australa gulped and drew her mallet, stepping towards the anvil warily. The heat taxed her strength, and she did not have her heat visor. She inserted the blade into the glowing liquid to heat it then withdrew it and placed it atop the anvil and closed her eyes.

"Deres, Il voal memjag. Deres, Il voal rhak. Deres, Il-"

"Wait! Stop! She is trying to cast a spell!" Bautan shouted abruptly. Australa glared at him.

"Nichratho! Naditanyakina! Naditanyakina!" she screamed and pointed her mallet at him.

"Wow she's quite the little firecracker…" Black Hawk muttered.

"Calm yourself, Bautan. These Outworlders are surprisingly superstitious despite their advanced knowledge. By all means, let her pray to her 'god' if it will give her comfort," Talpa mocked. Australa glanced at Bautan and Talpa then sighed and resumed her Hymn. When she finished, she opened her eyes and stared down at the glowing hot blade sadly.

"…Eyurodin…forgive me…HAAAAH!" she screamed as she made the first stroke.

* * *

"Oh this is bad on _so_ many levels!" Ryo moaned.

"We gotta call Azuro and T'plaureth!" Rowen exclaimed.

"No! No, we can't! If we tell anyone else on Thanged, they'll go berserk! We _don't_ want that!" Ryo argued quickly. "Besides, we have no idea where she was taken…"

"Sandstorm can find her!" Yulie piped up. Sandstorm nodded fervently in agreement. "All Pegasi know where to find their riders at all times. White Wind could find me on the other side of the planet if he had to." White Wind closed his eyes and made a shrugging motion.

"If Black Hawk took her to Talpa's flying fortress, we'll need Sandstorm's guidance. He keeps it concealed with illusions so strong, Kayura couldn't breach them," Rowen commented.

"We can't just go charging in. We'll have to take a covert approach and once we pinpoint her location, we'll have to wait for a window of opportunity," Ryo said and reached for his Lion ring. He twisted the insignia to White Dragon and summoned his sub-armor first. Rowen followed suit and transformed into his Eagle AnimArmor. After transforming into full armor, Ryo lashed his tail behind him and shrugged the large dragon wings.

White Wind raised both ears and made a series of chirps. "White Wind says Ryo's armor looks the most impressive," Yulie translated. Rowen scowled and folded his arms over his chest.

"Well Rowen says White Wind's sense of style stinks!"

"Lead the way Sandstorm," Ryo said.

"Wait! I'm coming too! Sandstorm doesn't have a war saddle!" Yulie argued.

"No way. I'm not letting you come within a mile of Talpa's fortress," Ryo stated firmly.

"Yah. It's not like we're gonna ring the doorbell and run off giggling," Rowen added. Sandstorm interrupted suddenly by flapping his wings and snorting. "What's that all about?"

"He says he refuses to go anywhere without another Pegasi."

"Oh you are _so_ BSing me!" Ryo growled. Sandstorm promptly sank to his knees and sat himself down on the ground, folding his wings over his back and swishing his tail.

"Ryo…we need him to navigate and you said yourself we can't raise help from Thanged…"

"Allright! Allright!" Yulie perked up upon hearing that. "But I don't want you in combat!"

"Awww…"

"Ryo, I want to come too. Australa wouldn't have even been here long enough to get captured if it hadn't been for me," Sage brought up.

"I understand how you feel, Sage, but you can't fly," Ryo replied. Sage glanced at Yulie.

"I could hitch a ride on White Wind!"

"No way! White Wind refuses to carry extra passengers after the trouble he had with Blackblaze!" Yulie protested. Sage sighed in disappointment. Cye placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, Sage. What's that the media keeps calling us? 'Angels in Armor'? She's in good hands," he comforted as the rescue party took to the air and flew into the distance. Cye and Sage went inside the house, followed by Kento. He paused when he heard a solid knock.

"…This day couldn't possibly get any worse…" he muttered to himself and opened the door. "…It just got worse…" he whispered then composed himself. "Sup Azuro! How goes it?"

"Thelektukak, KenTakin! Australa has yet to return from her errand. Is she allright?"

"Oh. Um, she's still at the Pinnacles working at the forge…" Sage heard them speaking and quickly ducked out of sight, hiding himself and his sword behind a wall.

"Ah. I will visit her there then-" Azuro turned to leave. Kento grimaced and raised a hand.

"No! I mean-she said not to be disturbed! Trying to focus and all that…"

"I could request the aid of a senior metalworker from Peirolyth."

"…Dude…she's your sister. You could at least have a _little_ faith in her ability."

"Perhaps, but you _are_ the legendary Morind de Witheren. You are entitled to the best service possible," Azuro shrugged. Kento smiled weakly and rubbed the back of his head.

"Eh, she's making okay progress. She said the metal was being fussy, so it's taking longer."

"I see. I will inform the Everlasting Mother. Thu the thakka," Azuro waved and walked over to Skywrath. Kento held in his breath until the Pegasi had flown off then sighed heavily.

"At least it's the partial truth. Man…all this stress…I need to eat something."

* * *

Australa wiped sweat off her brow and noticed a Dynasty Soldier holding up a filled skin of water and a chunk of coarse-looking bread. Sorely tempted to accept what would seem like hospitality, Australa had seen too many llaudauns warning against partaking in the food of the Demon King. She shook her head, declining politely, but ran her tongue over her cracked lips.

She had lost track of time, but the dark metal had proven disturbingly malleable. As the blade neared completion, she began the first of seven strokes starting from the tip. Strangely enough, the same burning liquid that allowed the metal to be heated proved sufficient to quench it. Since she lacked Sandstorm, she had to hone it the old fashioned way with a whetstone.

The completed blade-much slimmer and lighter than the original design- resembled a saber with a small hook in the blade near the hilt. The lower edge of the blade curved forward over the grip. The hilt itself curved up and around, almost looping back towards the blade. Bautan had given her some pale white material to fashion the hilt and pommel. Where it had come from, she didn't see fit to ask. The sword had no sheath, and she remained standing when presenting it to Ouagli instead of kneeling as she had with Sage. Talpa reached out and took it from her hands.

"The weight and balance-amazing!" he laid the flat against his fingertips. "The edge is as light as a jest…" without warning, he turned and struck down the Dynasty Soldier that had offered Australa food and drink. "And as sharp as an insult…You have performed well, little Outworlder. Truly, your skill hearkens to a time long forgotten, even to me. I am pleased!" While he gloated and praised, Australa stepped away from the anvil and buttoned up her apron. Instead of holstering her mallet, she slipped out the length of string she used for measuring and wrapped one end around her wrist and the other through the loop at the base of the mallet.

"Well then, if you are satisfied, I shall take my leave," she said softly and stepped towards the exit. Black Hawk tensed but remained in her place, and Bautan's lips turned up in a smirk.

"…I am afraid I cannot allow that…" Talpa's eyes glowed slightly. Australa whirled around.

"But… you promised! You gave your word that I could leave safely!" she protested.

"So I did, but you see, I cannot very well let you live so that you may eventually craft another blade to rival the strength of this one. Surely you can understand the need for precaution."

"…I see…" Australa bowed her head as Talpa raised the sword.

"Fear not, for in crafting this weapon for my glory, you shall have immortality undreamt of by any other mortal." Australa kept her arms at her sides and her eyes closed. "You resign yourself to your fate…I commend you, little Outworlder, for your courage in the face of death." The blade whistled through the air as Talpa brought it down in a slash intended to literally cleave the Thangien girl in two. Bautan grinned in anticipation but Black Hawk looked dissatisfied.

The edge of the blade came to a halt no more than a hairbreadth from Australa's forehead. "WHAT IS THIS?" Talpa bellowed. Black Hawk and Bautan looked surprised to see Talpa hesitate. They did not see what Australa saw; for the glory of seeing was hers and hers alone.

_What…what…What are you waiting for?_ Her eyes widened when she saw a faint flicker and an outline like that of a tall woman standing between her and Ouagli. Platinum hair flowed down the woman's back with the spires of a narrow black crown pointing up through the bangs like horns. Thick gloves of dark blue-gray leather covered both hands. She held one hand clenched tightly at her left side, and the other gripped Talpa's right wrist like a vice. _Go, **NOW**!_

_Not without my work_! Australa swatted the sword out of Talpa's grasp, catching it neatly and pointing it at him. "You know much about us Thangiens, Ouagli, but you do not know everything! Long ago there lived a man much like you. He desired a weapon like no other, and to make it he commissioned Deres, the Father of Metal. Deres despaired, knowing that the wicked one would slay him once he completed his work. He feared his skill would die with him, but Eyurodin, the Lady of Flames, came to him and said unto him 'Let no blade forged by hand bring harm unto its maker!' That is her covenant with all metalworkers!"

"ENOUGH! I WILL TAKE THAT WHICH IS MINE!" Talpa roared and drew two swords from the rack mounted on his back. He seemed to swell like a rushing wave, appearing as tall and terrible as a thundercloud. Australa tensed and hefted the blade.

"It ceased belonging to you when you attacked me with it!" She began charging the blade.

"Master Talpa! No! I've seen that technique before!" Black Hawk cried. Talpa slashed with the first sword, and the much smaller Thangien sprang back to avoid before lunging and slashing with the sword she had made. Talpa brought up the second blade to parry, but much to his horror, the blade snapped in half from the blow. Not only that, but the edge continued down and sliced off the upper two tips of the wing-shaped plate adorning his cuirass on the left side.

"AHHHHHGGHHH!" Talpa collapsed to one knee and held a hand over the severed plate. Australa stared at him, bewildered by the sight. A thought crept into her mind; for her, the least of Anders' daughters, to deal the final blow to the Demon King, Ouagli…

Australa turned and bolted for the exit. No, that honor belonged to the Morind and them alone. She paused for a moment and looked over her shoulder, smirking at Black Hawk. "I should thank you, phitvieke, for giving me the faintest ember of hope," she said and fled.

"What was she talking about? Did you have anything to do with this?" Bautan demanded.

"What? No! Of course not!" Black Hawk sputtered.

"I do not CARE who is to blame! FIND HER! BRING HER BACK HERE!" Talpa roared.

"Yes, Master Talpa! I will do as you command!" Black Hawk declared and ran after the girl.

"You had better…" Talpa growled angrily, his eyes flaring briefly.

Dynasty Soldiers standing at attention in the halls leading away from the caves did not react at first when the copper-haired girl ran past. They did a double take then stomped after her in pursuit. Another soldier stepped out from a hallway in the middle of its patrol and halted when it saw the girl running in its direction. It brandished a forked spear, but Australa gripped her mallet in one hand and-using a trick she'd learned from DaiTakin-hurled her mallet at the soldier's face. The head buried itself in the helmet, crumpling the metal entirely. Dark smoke billowed out of the collar and Australa tugged her mallet back into her grip using the string she'd attached earlier.

"YOU! I won't let you get away!" Australa frowned when she saw Chaizar step into the hallway further ahead to block her path. "I won't let you cheat me of revenge again!" Australa scowled and sped up. Chaizar tensed and raised both hands to grab her. Australa dropped to the floor and skidded on her hip, sliding along the polished tiles and passing right between Chaizar's legs. She scrambled to her feet when she passed him and continued running. "NO!"

Australa arrived in a long colonnade with stone walls to one side and pillars and the open sky to the other. She skidded to a halt when she saw Balthazar leading a group of soldiers at the far end of the hall and turned around, heading for a side passage she'd spotted earlier, but hesitated when she saw Scar and more soldiers approaching down the hall. She looked back the way she'd come and saw Chaizar stalking towards her. "No! No! Don't you even _think_ about it! No!" Australa glanced from him to the rail. "NOOOOO!" Chaizar bellowed with animal rage when Australa hopped onto the rail and jumped off before Balthazar or Scar could catch her.

The air pressed against her face as she plummeted alongside the sheer stone base wall. She held the sword in one hand and her mallet in the other and spread her arms to slow her descent as she entered freefall. The rushing air dried out her eyes and she squinted to protect them. She heard a rustle of wings and the whoosh of takeoff and dared a look over her shoulder.

"YOU! Get BACK here! I've got things going good here! I won't let you ruin everything!" Black Hawk screamed and dove after her. Australa writhed about, trying to turn over to get a better angle to retaliate. Black Hawk closed the distance and splayed her fingers to grab the girl.

Australa gasped when she heard a familiar bubbly whistle and looked over her shoulder. Black Hawk's arms wrapped around nothing and she halted midair upon seeing the orange blur sweep Australa out of her grasp. Sandstorm whirled about and looked over his shoulder, whinnying a greeting to a relieved Australa. Black Hawk moved to attack but paused when she saw two familiar winged figures intervene. "Sanada! Hashiba! You'll regret interfering!"

"Sorry 'Jennifer', but you want her, you'll have to go through us," Ryo stated and hefted his dragon lance in one hand. Rowen drew out both his wing-shaped axes.

"How _dare_ you! I'll make you bleed! I'll make you suffer! I'll-" A shuddering impact and explosion enveloped Black Hawk in a thick cloud of smoke. "*_cough_**_cough_* What the hell was _that_? You think a little smoke's gonna stop me! Just wait till I get my hands on-what?" Black Hawk blinked when she saw Rowen waving his fingers as if in a friendly farewell and Ryo pointing towards the ground below with a finger. Black Hawk glanced to either side of her.

Something had shattered most of the long feathers in her wings, and only a few remained; not nearly enough to keep her aloft. "Ahh…ahhh! AHHH!" Black Hawk screamed helplessly as gravity took over and she plummeted into the clouds. Ryo put his hands on his hips and Rowen folded his arms over his chest as the two turned to face someone behind them.

"_HE_ shot them!" Yulie protested. White Wind's ears went up and his eyes widened.

"You okay Australa? Did they hurt you?" Rowen asked in concern.

"I am fine…but there is the matter of this…" Australa held up the sword she'd made.

* * *

Sandstorm grazed outside happily while White Wind jerked his head up and down trying to tear the chainmail out of Yulie's leggings. Yulie himself wailed in protest, apologizing repeatedly to no avail. Inside the house, Australa stood near the dining table with arms folded solemnly.

"Had I refused, Ouagli might have killed me, though he attempted to do so regardless…" Australa explained to the other Ronin while Kayura examined the sword.

"Australa…when you worked on Sage's sword, I noticed you performed as sequence of hammer strokes towards the end. Can you explain their significance?"

"The Seven Sacred Strikes are intended to seal the blade's strength and purify the metal."

"Strange…I sense no evil power within this blade. It's as if your strikes indeed purged the evil within. It's merely a sword now; beautifully crafted and well-honed."

"But…what should I do with it? I cannot keep such a blade for myself…" Australa argued.

"Then don't." Australa looked to the side when Kento placed a hand on her shoulder. "Take it home with you. Present it to your lord as a trophy. Tell him the truth; about everything that happened." The other Ronin exchanged glances, startled by the suggestion and impressed by such sincerity. "Tell him you didn't even need help to escape, that you fought your way out all on your own. When your family hears your story, they'll be so proud of you; that the youngest of Ander's daughters faced the Demon King and stood up to him."

* * *

"Your star pupil returned quite the celebrity. I haven't seen old Yainae so happy in weeks, and Torkenantakin looked quite pleased with his gift." This late at night, only the High Forge remained active. One figure stood hunched over the anvil while another stood behind her. The glow from the forge cast tall shadows on the back wall and orange light on the two women.

"She's _hardly_ my star pupil…" a stern voice snorted indifferently above the din.

"If I recall correctly, you once made a pact with Deres long ago. You also promised that you would enforce it if invoked…personally." The mallet ceased moving abruptly.

"Do you distract me for a reason other than giving me a history lesson?"

"…no." Footsteps echoed throughout the High Forge as the visitor departed chuckling softly. The blue-gloved hand resumed striking with the mallet. Occasionally sparks flying up from the anvil lit the metalworker's face. For a few seconds, the corners of her lips turned down in a frown of concentration. Then, after a few more strokes, they turned up in a pleased smile.


	16. The Bloody Oath and the Grim Pact

The Bloody Oath and the Grim Pact

By Mardrena

Black Hawk strode through the hall with a slight lilt. She paused when she saw a ragged robed figure fly out of the laboratory and slam back-first into the wall. "Heeellloooo Bautan! How are we today?" she clasped her hands behind her back and leaned forward slightly.

"Curse that wretched Guardian! She's devised and implemented wards around the Ronins' residences to prevent any form of scrying! I can no longer observe them outside of battle!"

"Well…you know, maybe she wouldn't have thought about _making_ them if you hadn't _blabbed_ about being able to peek in on the Ronin 24/7."

"That's not the worst part either…" Bautan grumbled and peeled himself from the wall. "She's learning how to wield the Ronin Cross more proficiently. She's no longer just merely using it as a battery for the Ronin Armors. Normally such a skilled sorcerer as me could easily bypass such wards, but her spell work is disturbingly airtight for a young woman…something I strongly attribute to her heritage as a descendant of the Mystic Alliance."

"Well…I'm sure you'll figure out a work-around, being the arcane _genius_ that you are. You have plenty of time too, what with us _both_ being in the hot seat with Emperor Talpa after that little oopsie with the Outworlder. But hey, it wasn't _my_ idea to give her the presidential cell in the dungeons," Bautan growled softly and glared at her, but Black Hawk ignored him and shrugged. "My feathers just grew back, so I'm gonna go take a spin around the city. Oh, Bautan, didn't you say you needed a powerful magical focus to break the wards on the Nether Realm?"

"I did…why ask?" Bautan scowled and raised an eyebrow.

"No particular reason… later!" Black Hawk waved, leaving Bautan to dwell on his suspicions.

* * *

"Hello, I am looking for Shannon O'Connor?" Shannon blinked and paused in sorting folders. She turned around and saw a woman wearing a red letter jacket multiple sizes too big and a faded baseball cap with stitched lettering on the front. After a blink or two she recognized the curls of lavender hair poking out from under the cap and dangling over the thick collar of the jacket, as well as the sparkling amethyst eyes. The woman waved at her and smiled.

"Oh my God! Danae! Oh! Um…, you mind taking over for me? I'm going on break," Shannon asked a nurse. The nurse nodded and Shannon wormed her way out of the narrow reception booth and into the lobby. She walked over to the tall woman. "Okay…" Shannon placed her fingers on her brow and fought back fit of giggles. "I must say, that is the _worst_ disguise I've ever seen in my entire professional career," she grinned and lowered her hand.

"My brother informed me of your clothing preferences," the Thangien noblewoman chuckled. "I thought it best to conform to maintain an air of discretion."

"Um…cafeteria's over here. Why don't we sit down," Shannon gestured to the adjacent hall. After she paid for the food, she walked over to the table carrying a tray stocked with sandwiches, snack cups, and bottled drinks. She set the tray down and left to retrieve a handful of napkins. When she sat down she noticed Danae had peeled the lid off of one of the dessert cups and currently tapped her spork against the contents repeatedly, apparently intrigued in how a transparent solid could undulate so rhythmically. "So, what brings you to the Oldworld?"

"I do not know you very well, but I know _of_ you and I feel I can trust you with a rather…delicate matter…" Danae took a tentative bite of a sandwich. "I need some tests run."

"…Okay…shouldn't be a problem…but why come here? I thought you had that giant mega-hospital in your capital city?" Shannon frowned and peeled open a bag of chips.

"The Traedeskaton: Arena of Mending…yes, you are correct…but if I went there, the results would be disclosed to my family, and this is something I do not wish known just yet…"

"I see…well, I can certainly find something more dignified for you than an over-the-counter method, that's for sure. I'll throw some paperwork together when I get back on the clock. Oh, by the way. You wouldn't mind if I listed your nationality as Sweden, would you?"

* * *

A haggard looking young woman with black hair and green eyes meekly approached the counter. Her clothes looked rather frayed and her skin unusually pale.

"Hi…is…is Shannon O'Connor working here today?" she asked hoarsely.

"She just left to do blood work on a patient. She should be back in a few minutes if you want to wait, or I can page her," the nurse said, hiding her unease at the woman's condition.

"Oh, no…that's fine…I'll just leave a message for her, if you could pass it along."

* * *

"You'd think after centuries of unholy servitude to the dark powers, a guy's swimmers wouldn't be operational," Shannon commented and handed the sheet of paper to Danae, who had removed her cap and let her lavender hair drape over her shoulders. "You told Dais yet?"

"I did not want to, not until I was absolutely certain."

"He's probably at work this time of day. I can give you the address if you want."

"I will visit him at his dwelling. Paigasurin remembers the way," Danae slipped the cap back on and tucked her hair under her collar. Shannon held the door open for her.

"I hope you found a good place to park him. The garage is usually packed this late in the evening," Shannon teased as they walked back to the lobby.

"Oh! Shannon! Hey, some girl came looking for you earlier. Said her name was Carol Black?"

"…Doesn't ring a bell…she say what she want?" Shannon asked and leaned against the counter. Danae cocked her head and listened.

"Something about 'meeting at midnight' and 'having a talk'…not much specifics but she left an address. Hey, isn't that where they're building that new night club? The Harbor?"

"Probably…I'll look into it. Thanks for the heads up," Shannon took the small neon slip of paper from the nurse and pocketed it before saying her goodbyes to Danae and waving as she left the building. Danae paused by the curb and looked over her shoulder, narrowing her eyes before looking towards the street and reaching up to straighten the edges of her jacket collar.

* * *

The car came to a stop and Shannon cut the engine and pulled the keys out before pocketing them. She opened the door and stepped out then closed it, glancing about the docks. She walked past several warning signs and piles of materials marking the partially finished walls of Toyama's future destination for teens looking to party safely and in style.

"Shannon?" Shannon gasped and whirled around, clutching her pendant tightly. The jeweled cross lengthened into sword form and she brought the blade about. "Whoa whoa! Easy with the hocus pocus!" the bedraggled black-haired girl cried and raised her hands, almost cowering at the sight of the huge claymore. Shannon scowled angrily and peered through the Strata Sapphire. Much to her surprise, she saw only a frail woman with no trace of a magical illusion.

"What the hell do you want," Shannon snarled.

"I…I got kicked out. Talpa...after I screwed up with that Outworlder…h-he…I didn't think he could! I-I-I…he took my powers! I didn't know what to do! I th-thought…"

"What? That all'd be forgiven and forgotten? That you'd all of a sudden get a clean slate? I'm sorry, _Jennifer_, but if you came expecting a pity party, I didn't send out any invitations," Shannon sneered and reverted the Cross to pendant form and tucked it into her shirt.

"I only wanted to get back at you for holding out on me, not usher in the end of mankind and all that crap! I didn't sign on for any of this!" Jennifer blubbered.

"Don't feed me that _bullshit_!" Shannon roared and jabbed a finger at her. "You knew _exactly_ what you were signing on for! What did you _think_ the Dynasty was? A game? A contest where you could get the highest score? Don't bother apologizing to me; that ship sailed, went around the world and came back to port. If you should apologize to anyone, it should be your parents for the hell you put them through," Shannon folded her arms and whirled around.

"I-I-I c-can't…" Jennifer whimpered and clamped her hands over her mouth.

"Sure you can. I'm sure they're still living back in the States, same run-down ranch they've always lived in for years. Hop the next plane back to-what?" Shannon turned around when she heard soft sobbing. "…What?" she wrinkled her nose when Jennifer sank to her knees and clutched her shoulders. Her fingers dug into the folds of her jacket and she started rocking back and forth slowly. "…OH MY GOD!" Shannon's eyes widened in realization and she took a step back from shock. "Wow…wow…oh…wow…" she blinked several times and rubbed her brow. "I…I…I ho-I honestly didn't think it was possible…for you to have sunk any lower…" Shannon giggled hoarsely then clenched her fist. "CLEARLY I WAS WRONG!"

"Shannon, please!" Jennifer wailed.

"'Please' _yourself_!" Shannon growled and turned around. "I've washed my hands of you."

"Shannon…Shannon…don't go…" Jennifer croaked desperately as Shannon walked towards her car. She sniffled and wiped tears from her nose and mouth with her sleeve. Shannon showed no signs of relenting. Jennifer sat on the pavement looking utterly broken and defeated. She sniffled again and narrowed her eyes before pushing herself to stand shakily.

Part of Shannon's mind screamed for her to act; to turn around. She didn't know why she kept walking as if nothing would happen. Perhaps part of her heart wanted to believe Jennifer's sincerity. She did start to turn around slowly, however, when she heard a sound all-too familiar to her; rasping leather whistling through the air. She looked over her shoulder in time to see the tasseled end strike her left side. Her ribs burned as the blow sent her skidding over the pavement.

"It doesn't _matter_ if you bought my sob story or not!" Shannon felt a pressure against the back of her neck as a hand reached out and yanked her pendant hard enough to snap the cord. "I got what I came for!" Shannon sat up and watched helplessly as ragged jeans, jacket, shirt, and sneakers tore apart. Feet splayed into talons and wings sprouted from the shoulder blades. The oily black hair hardened into razor sharp feathers and longer feathers grew out from the backside. "I'm actually not going to kill you. I'm going to let you explain to the Ronin Warriors how you lost their prize and they can see what a shitty Guardian you made!" All Shannon could do was sit there and watch Black Hawk spread her wings and launch into the air. "Adios!"

"AAAIIIIEEEEOOOOO!" Black Hawk gasped and looked up when she heard the echoing cry. She saw the heel of a yellow boot smash into her face and send her crashing into the walls of the Harbor site. The Ronin Cross clattered to the pavement and yellow-gloved fingers scooped it up quickly. Shannon blinked and barely moved her hands up in time to catch the Cross as it flew towards her. "Get out of here." the lavender-haired woman said sternly.

"Danae? What-what the heck are you doing here? How did you-"

"**NOW**." Shannon knew better than to argue when a Thangien spoke in that semi-roar and bolted for her car. She started the engine and drove away swiftly. Danae smiled in relief.

Black Hawk staggered to her feet and spread her wings full stretch, throwing her head back and emitting a piercing avian scream before springing back onto the pavement. "YOU! As long as I've known you, you've always gone out of your way to get between us! WHY? WHAT FOR? She's not your friend. You don't know her that well, so why? WHY?"

"…We of Thanged take these threats upon ourselves, so that no one else need suffer," Danae answered calmly and drew her sword and held it ready. Black Hawk's right eye twitched.

"So…so that's it? You want to feel her pain? YOU WANT TO DIE HER DEATH! Then FINE! I'll grant your wish!" she screamed and drew two feather swords.

"GUELVAAAAT!" Danae howled and lunged. The clang of metal on metal echoed all across the docks as the two traded blows ferociously. Rage didn't blind Black Hawk so much that she failed to notice Danae exhibiting more complex maneuvers…very similar to the blue-haired male that called himself her brother. Much to her frustration, Black Hawk found herself on the defensive as Danae's onslaught drove her back and back along the edge of the dock. She even tried leaping onto a nearby crane, but Danae slashed through it, causing the upper half to collapse. While the Thangien shrieked her eerie battle cries, Black Hawk waited for an opportunity to disrupt the battle rhythm.

Danae began charging her blade, but Black Hawk had seen the move enough times to know how to counter it. She sprang back and let the blade bury itself in the pavement then swung her talons forward, catching the woman by her arms. Danae tried slashing at Black Hawk's legs, but the talons clamped down tight, causing her arms to go numb. The ground vanished beneath the thick clouds hanging over the docks as Black Hawk rose higher.

"One Outworlder omelet coming right up! Or going straight down…" Black Hawk snickered and released Danae. She hovered in the air and watched the woman plunge helplessly through the clouds. She cocked her head to listen for the wet thud of a body striking pavement. Instead, she heard a rumbling whinny. The clouds swirled and a black and red metallic form arrowed towards her, neighing defiantly with Danae seated snugly in the saddle and gripping the reins.

Black Hawk threw away any shred of control and let out a shriek of rage before tucking her wings and diving. "I'LL TEAR YOU APART!" Anger and rushing air blinded Black Hawk to the way Pegasus back-winged and fired his thrusters, keeping a steady altitude. Motes of light gathered onto the golden horn and Danae held on tight, anticipating the recoil. Black Hawk realized too late and swerved to the side when the horn cannon fired.

The beam did not strike her left wing directly, but came close enough to shatter some of the feathers and cause the armor on Black Hawk's left side to peel away. Danae spurred Pegasus to give chase and they dove after the plummeting Demon Warrior. The roof and half-finished insulation of the Harbor cushioned the fall as Black Hawk plunged into the interior. Pegasus landed on a scaffold platform and Danae dismounted and crept inside.

Faint light from the spots outside filtered through gaps in the walls and the hole in the roof. Danae spotted Black Hawk lying on the floor, stunned from the impact. She narrowed her eyes and took a step towards her. Black Hawk moaned and tried to push herself up on her knees but faltered. She glanced up when she saw the glint of metal from Danae's sword.

Danae paused when, much to her surprise, Black Hawk began floating off of the floor. The Demon Warrior's wings hung limply and she did not struggle from the force causing her to levitate. Her form blurred and she vanished from sight, but another winged figure stood in the shadows behind where she'd fallen. Danae scowled, recognizing the black spined bat-like wings and twisted spired crown. The figure stepped forward, and light shone upon the dark green hair.

"You have wounded my daughter…this is not the first time you have grievously harmed my creations, but it will be your last, Danaetanera, daughter of Vai Stel Vethu. I am your demise. I am your unheeded prayer. I am Dygra, Beast Warden of the Emperor."

"Nichratha!" Danae slashed hard enough to send shockwaves against the floor. Dygra calmly floated away, avoiding each strike. Pegasus tore open the wall and shouldered his way inside.

"Be still, construct," Dygra ordered calmly and splayed her silvery-tipped fingers. Tendrils of violet smoke encircled the Pegasi and solidified into dark-colored crystal that covered him from the neck down, rooting him to the wall. Pegasus struggled and snorted indignantly. Danae glanced at him then at Dygra, uttering a low echoing growl. "Are you that arrogant that you believe you can challenge me without your steed and without your fellow Outworlders?"

"IL PAURA DUOR!" Danae lunged again, yet no matter which technique she used, Dygra always skipped just out of range. She turned her sword around and attempted to hit Dygra in the jaw with a Meteorite Scar. Dygra dodged the strike, but hissed angrily when Pegasus' eye-beams pierced her right wing. Danae turned the hilt about in her hand and thrust at Dygra's stomach. The Beast Warden turned sideways, letting the blade just barely graze the skin.

Dygra reached up and wrapped her fingers around Danae's right arm. Bolts of black energy erupted from the silvery claw plates and covered Danae's body. The Thangien screamed from the icy pain and her sword slipped from her numbed fingers. Dygra pulled back her free hand and curled her fingers. Violet sparks flew out of the tips and coalesced into a long jagged blade as black as void. Danae glared at the Beast Warden, enraged by this cowardice.

She convulsed when the black blade plunged through her stomach. Pegasus screamed in anguish. "There will be no songs sung of you. There will be no legends passed of your glories. There will be no miracle from your gods. Die. Die now, and trouble the Dynasty no longer," Dygra whispered in Danae's ear before twisting the blade around cruelly and watched Danae stagger, one hand grasping futilely and the other clamped over her abdomen. A grinding crack drew Dygra's gaze to Pegasus as he managed to free himself. "Grieve for your master, construct. There is no saving her," Dygra declared and phased through the wall, melting into shadow.

Pegasus ran to his friend's side and knelt beside her. Danae reached up with shaking fingers for the compartment just above the missile launchers. Her strength failed her, and she slumped to the floor, but remained conscious enough to hear someone screaming her name.

* * *

Danae coughed and tried to swallow. Something covered her nose and mouth but permitted her to breathe, and between fluttering blinks she saw bars of bright white light moving overhead.

"Oh my God! Shannon, what happened to her?" a female gasped

"We were coming home from a cosplay when some maniac just stabbed her for no reason!"

"Are you serious? What is _wrong_ with people these days!" a male remarked.

"Penetrating wound to the lower abdominal cavity, heavy blood loss…we'll need to prep her for OR right away. Shannon, I'm sorry, you have to stay back: you're not on duty."

"I know, Dad. I just…please, take care of her!"

Danae's breath came out in faint wheezes and she felt several hands moving over her body, trying to peel off her combat uniform. She caught sight of the nurse from the reception booth and a man who had the same color hair and eyes as Shannon, except much older.

Shannon backed up down the hall and clutched her shoulders, choking down tears. She gasped when she felt herself bump against someone and whirled around.

"I got your call and came as fast as I could. What happened?" Sage demanded.

"It was Dygra! She-Danae fought her, and she paralyzed her and stabbed her with some sort of shadow dagger. I pulled the blade out and tried to dress it with those leaves, but I think there's some sort of magical infection. The wound didn't heal right!"

"Why didn't you call me with the Cross? Shannon, you've done it before-"

"I WASN'T THINKING! Okay! I wasn't thinking! I saw her get stabbed and I-I-she was just lying there! Pegasus couldn't bandage her!" Shannon sputtered. Sage wrapped his arms around her shoulders and patted her comfortingly. "I couldn't purge the infection…but maybe you and-"

"I don't think they'd let a Ronin Warrior and a Staff Bearer into the operating room."

"You could port Kayura in, right? You just need a visual reference!" Shannon glanced to the side through the door of an unoccupied room. "You'll have a few moments before they take her. The rooms are exactly the same, just picture Danae in bed. I'll signal you."

"Allright then…" Sage muttered and quietly slipped into the stairwell. Shannon peeked through the double doors and saw the nurse exit the room. Shannon grasped her pendant and fingered the Halo Emerald. She heard a faint exclamation from Charles before a female voice assured him. Shannon tapped the emerald again when she saw the nurse return with another doctor. She watched them wheel Danae down the hall then glanced at the stairwell.

Sage stepped out into the hall and Kayura peeked out, keeping the Staff hidden behind the door. "It'll be up to them now," she whispered. The three of them looked up upon hearing a commotion. Shannon's heart sank when she recognized the white-haired man.

"Sir, I'm sorry, but visitors aren't allowed past this point!"

"I'll go talk to him," Sage said and walked over to where Cale and Sehkmet held a struggling Dais by the shoulders. Shannon turned away, unable to bring herself to look at him.

* * *

Sage had escorted the Elders to the waiting room further down the hall. Shannon paced up and down the hall, and Kayura leaned against a gaudy picture frame and bulletin board, keeping the Staff behind her. "Any word?" Shannon almost jumped out of her shoes when she heard Ryo's voice and whirled around to look at him. She shook her head solemnly.

"It was through and through. Between the infection and the damage done…even Sage and Kayura couldn't heal it all the way," Shannon rubbed her arms nervously.

"Hey, don't worry so much. She's a Thangien; as tough as they come. She'll pull through."

"Ryo!" Rowen ran up to them out of breath. "Something's going down on the roof!" Ryo followed Rowen up the stairwell with Shannon following a few steps behind.

There had to have been nearly fifty riders. Ryo recognized a few, namely Australa, Rona, Tornath, and Azuro. Azuro paced around in a circle, shouting in Thangien.

"Azuro! What the heck are all these people doing here? I know you didn't come all this way to hold a candlelight vigil," Ryo demanded.

"I have mobilized our Ranks to seek wergild upon Ouagli and his minions. They disregarded an honorable challenge and dared strike down Danae! They will rue such cowardice!"

"You can't launch a head-on attack against the Dynasty. It'd be suicide! I can't let you do this," Ryo argued. Azuro walked over to him and leaned close.

"This is _not_ a request, and you will _not_ intervene. This is _our_ grievance to pursue," Azuro snarled. Ryo glanced from him to the mounted riders and stepped back. Azuro turned around and continued shouting orders. Shannon spotted Rona and ran over to her.

"Rona!" The red-haired Thangien turned to face her. "Listen, I just want to say how sorry I am! This was my fault! Danae wouldn't have gotten injured if I hadn't been such an idiot! She was trying to protect me, but I didn't want her to risk her own life for my sake-" Shannon blinked when Rona brought up a hand suddenly to silence her.

"I must ask that you stop before you utter another insult."

"…Insult? Wait-what?" Shannon sputtered and shook her head and waved her hands. "Okay...okay, I think something got lost in translation here. I wasn't trying to insult anyone. I just don't want Danae to die because of my mista-" Rona silenced her again.

"Shannon, you must understand: there are many cultures on Oldworld that celebrate death in battle, but for us Thangiens, it is different. Il moretan pal; 'I die not idle'. Death with a purpose so there is no mistake in battle, or shame in dying from a blow meant for another."

"I-I understand where you're coming from, but it's not just Danae's life I'm-" Shannon cut herself off before she said too much. Rona placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It took all the armies of the Thunthen to bring down Ander. It would take no less to end his daughter," Rona smiled and patted Shannon's arm.

"ShaTakin, you should take these." Tornath stepped over and held out two objects. "Fresh leaves and a Richtho seed pod you can plant. They require little care, and will grow in any soil. Use them to help Danaetanera," he said and placed the bundles into her hands. Shannon nodded gratefully and headed downstairs. Rona and Tornath turned their attention back Azuro.

"Australa knows how to seek Ouagli's lair. My Rank will attack the south face. Phaeryn, your Rank will take north," Azuro ordered to a wiry male with stringy brown hair. "Geiro, unleash your Rank against the west wall." A yellow-haired man big enough to make Kento look skinny grinned in anticipation. "Nalore, bring your Rank to the east wall." The short green-haired woman nodded solemnly. "Let Roth guide our blades into the hearts of the villains! Let Eyurodin give strength to our steeds! Let Ritho watch over Danae Stormrider! Now let us ride, for the daughter of Vai Stel Vethu! ENTURATE! IN WITHEREN'S NAME!"

Ryo and Rowen watched the Pegasi launch into the air, bellowing loud enough to draw startled glances from the street far below. Thankfully the overcast hung low that night.

"Aren't you gonna do something? We can't just let them take off like that!" Rowen argued.

"I don't like it any more than you do, Ro, but we have to respect their wishes," Ryo stated. Rowen let out a disgusted snort and raked his fingers through his hair. "I want you to go with them." Rowen glanced back at Ryo, surprised. "Don't join the fight, just watch. See how they do. Danae, Rona, and Tornath nearly fought Dygra's armies to a standstill at the Citadel. Azuro has at least forty five riders with him. Who knows…maybe they can make something happen."

"If you say so…ARMOR OF STRATA!" Rowen rose into the air with his bow in hand and glanced at Ryo, nodding solemnly before taking off after the Thangien Ranks. Ryo turned to head back downstairs, but paused and fingered the insignia of his AnimArmor ring.

* * *

"I believe what you say, but I don't know what you expect me to do with these."

"Just put one on her stomach and the other on her back. She'll be fine in a matter of-"

"And what if one of the nurses comes to check on her and sees them? I'm not making rounds tonight, the other guy is…and he's got it in for me as it is…" Charles whispered.

"I noticed…" Shannon rubbed the leaf packet between her hands. "…what about intravenous? A Richto tea IV drip! Tornath says it works the same way for internal injuries!"

"Maybe…I guess it's worth a shot…I'll get it set up before my shift ends, but make sure the Ronin are on standby in case something happens," Charles took the packet and headed for one of the supply rooms. Shannon turned around to leave but paused when she saw a short chubby man in a doctor's coat further down the hall. The balding man's brow furrowed and his thin black mustache shifted in a sneer. Shannon snorted in disgust and stalked towards the waiting room.

* * *

_ "People are advised to remain indoors and unplug all electrical equipment as the most spectacular thunderstorm this city's seen in over a decade parks itself over downtown…"_

Civilians on their way home from late shifts or just out enjoying the nighttime stared up in awe at the overcast sky as flashes of light erupted through the clouds and multiple cracks and rumbles echoed over the din of traffic. A taxi driver thumped his car radio when grating static consumed the weather report. The signal eventually returned, and the driver reclined in his seat.

He yelped when something crashed into the car's hood and cracked the windshield. He opened the door and got out to examine the object. At first glance it looked like a bent piece of metal. Then he leaned closer and noticed it almost resembled the head of an equine. White light flickered in narrow rectangles briefly before fading completely.

Far above the clouds, beyond the sight of any civilians, a dreadful battle raged between a few dozen Pegasi riders and hundreds upon thousands of Dynasty air barges. Eye-beams lanced through the air, slicing through prows and hulls, and spears and arrows flew from the decks of the vessels in futile efforts to bring down the riders. Ships exploded every second from missile strikes, but any missiles aimed at the flying fortress detonated short of their mark.

"Azurotago!" a male rider shouted as he flew up alongside the Metraind.

"I know! I see them! Khanphe spoke of these spirits," Azuro muttered. Humanoid shapes dressed in ornamental caps and robes swarmed around the outer walls of the fortress. Their gaunt fingers played a high-pitched mournful-sounding tune from thin flutes. "There may be a way to drive them away. You must inform the other Metraind of my plan…" Azuro began.

"WHIP LASH THRASH!" A female rider cried out when thin black cords wrapped around her white and gold Pegasi. The Pegasi squirmed and tried to free itself with its eye-beams. Its rider yelped when the cords pulled the Pegasi apart, literally ripping it limb from limb. Rona brought Red Thunder down in time to catch the girl in the saddle. The girl clutched onto Rona's arm and buried her face in her shoulder, watching tearfully as the still-screaming pieces of her steed rained to the city below. "Send more my way!" Black Hawk crowed and wheeled around, still proving to be a deadly foe despite being unable to maneuver quickly with her busted wing.

"Black Hawk! What manner of hell have you visited upon us!" Bautan scolded.

"Hey! Don't try to peg this on me! I didn't stab the Outworlder woman! It's not my fault they get so upset over one person! I swear, you step on their cat and they declare a holy war…"

"Thankfully the Nether Spirits are able to protect the fortress, but I find it rather unnerving that they are unable to deflect the projectiles back unto these Outworlders…

On the roof of a skyscraper, four figures observed the battle unfolding in the heavens.

"Look at them GO! _This_ is how they should fight!" a coarse female voice cheered.

"I don't understand how you could find pleasure in this…" a soft female voice sniffed.

"It isn't so much pleasure as it is admiration. They didn't feel such selflessness centuries ago. It took Ander to remind them, and now they fight for his offspring," a stern voice countered.

"Ouagli attacks with weapons of sorrow and despair, but they wield weapons forged of love and friendship. This is the strength they need for Entide." an even voice boomed.

"As much as I'd like to stay and watch Ouagli's minions get cut to ribbons, I'm going to go check in on Ander's daughter," the coarse voice said.

"What? You're not going to bolster those who fight in your name?" the soft voice argued.

"Why should I? They don't need it. As you can see, Azurotago came up with the solution."

"What the crap!" Black Hawk flinched when she heard an echoing roar. Bautan had to plug his ears to keep out the sound but it seemed to reverberate through his being.

"The spirits! What are they doing! They're retreating!" he gasped when he saw the Nether Spirits fluttering about in circles, their chilling rhythm thrown into disarray.

"Look! There! That man!" Black Hawk pointed at the blue-haired male mounted on a blue-colored Pegasi. "He's their vanguard rider! Kill him, and the rest will scatter!" Black Hawk and a group of barges veered off to engage the Outworlder uttering the disruptive cry.

Azuro saw the enemy heading his way, but he could not respond without ceasing his cries. Black Hawk uncoiled her whip, but paused when she saw six riders cluster around Azuro, and another seven rose up before her, led by the young copper-haired girl with the thick glasses.

"This is gonna be fun…WHIP LASH THRA-" A deafening explosion disrupted Black Hawk's concentration and jerked her attention to the base of the fortress. Hers and Bautan's eyes widened when they saw three massive swathes of crackling blue energy slice through the wall, digging huge gouges into the stone. Inside the fortress, the roof over a burning lake of orange fluid shuddered and crumbled, and the liquid bubbled and frothed.

Bautan and Black Hawk watched in horror as the wall split sideways, and the bottommost level of the fortress peeled away ever so slowly. Salvo after salvo of missiles broke the structure into smaller pieces before it struck the city. Far below, civilians ducked under cover as chunks of masonry rained into the street. Oddly enough, the larger chunks seemed to descend slowly. "…well there go the Nether caves…I'm going back to the outer wall to rally the spirits. I'll leave these Outworlders in your capable hands," Bautan chirped and flew towards the fortress.

Black Hawk growled and clenched a fist but squeaked when the barges accompanying her exploded into flaming bits. She glanced at the riders arrayed between her and Azuro and frowned. "Forget this," she snorted and flew towards the east wall.

"Whew…" Rowen reached under his helmet and wiped sweat from his cheek. "At least they're considerate enough to not want to flatten the city…" He hovered just above the clouds as he observed the siege. "I had my doubts…but they're really giving it to the Dynasty…hmm?" he looked over his shoulder when he heard the unmistakable sputter of a helicopter. "…Great…"

"Electrical storm my foot! That idiot wouldn't know a thunderstorm from a firecracker…" the female reporter snorted. "Why the heck are you keeping level altitude? Just nudge up a bit!"

"Hells no! I'm not counting on that dragon to pop up like last time," the pilot argued.

"Hey look! A Ronin Warrior!" the skinny camera man pointed at a hovering figure clad in blue and silver armor. The pilot skillfully maneuvered the helicopter alongside the man.

"Excuse me, young man, but could we trouble you for a statement regarding the events occurring above the city tonight?" the reporter leaned out of the door and held out the mike. The cameraman focused the lens on the clearly exasperated young man.

"No comment! Hey! Get that thing out of my face!" The cameraman blinked when the feed turned to static and lowered the camera to examine it. A golden arrow poked out of the lens.

"Hey! That's destruction of property!" the reporter shook her fist at the man.

"Send me the bill. Now scram before things heat up!" the man snapped and flew away.

"Oh the nerve of some people-hey! What are you doing!" the reporter squawked when the helicopter veered to the side. "Where's your sense of journalistic adventurism!"

"Snug at home with a beer," the pilot snorted.

Three Pegasi flew up into the exposed hallways of the fortress and deposited their riders. The three warriors readied their weapons and charged into the hordes of Dynasty Soldiers responding to the intrusion. Within minutes shattered pieces of smoking armor littered the floor. The warriors made their way up the stairs into a wide colonnade and ducked into a side hall towards a large inner chamber. They halted when they saw three towering figures. They looked vaguely humanoid with one resembling a snake with a tattered hood, a rough-skinned reptilian beast, and a bulky feline with a puckered scar in his chest. The riders tensed for battle.

Nalore screamed in rage as Black Hawk buried her talons into the left wing of her rust-colored Pegasi and wrenched it clean out of the socket. The Pegasi whinnied frantically and flapped its remaining wing, managing to make a controlled landing on the roof of a skyscraper.

"Many thanks for a most timely intervention, Black Hawk!" Admiral Duratin called from his flagship. "I had no idea these Outworlders could deploy powers so akin to those of the Ronin!"

"I think only a few are capable. I couldn't get the one at the south, but I think there's two more to the west and north." Black Hawk looked over her shoulder when she saw a missile screaming up from the skyscraper. "Oh the _hell_ you will!" she lashed out with her whip and caught the missile before it struck the flagship. She swung the missile to the side, striking a passing male rider with it. The resulting explosion consumed both the rider and his Pegasi.

"These Outworlders are a force to be reckoned with! If they had fought with such focused ferocity four hundred years ago, they would have made fine allies against the Totalitary."

"Oh don't you start getting all Anubis on me!"

"Do not mistake praise for weakness. Appreciating one's foes is instrumental to understanding them." The two looked towards the outer wall as more missiles struck true, rending holes through the ornate tiles. Some of the thin stone spires on the corners broke off and fell towards the city.

"I'll appreciate them when they stop blowing the fortress to bits!" Black Hawk turned to go after the offending riders but paused when she noticed something. "Admiral…look! That black one! With the red wings! The one without a rider…that's _hers_!"

"Should I dispatch my fleet to engage it?"

"No! He's mine! He's _mine_!" Black Hawk grinned and tucked her wings to dive.

Pegasus roared mournfully as he soared through the air. Spears bounced off his hide harmlessly and he turned his ire towards the soldiers aboard air barges that threw them. Some stepped onto the rail of the deck, tensing to jump onto his back when he came close. Much to their shock, he swept his wings back and flapped downward, swinging his hind legs up and sending his entire body into a spin like a saw blade. The vessel splintered as he plowed straight through the middle, sending wreckage and soldiers plummeting through the clouds.

"Hey! Horse!" Pegasus glanced over his shoulder when he leveled out and raised his ears. "Come to avenge your rider?" Pegasus narrowed his eyes and wheeled around. "Come get me!" Black Hawk turned and flew towards the fortress. Pegasus gave chase and fired his eye-beams repeatedly. Black Hawk banked and barrel-rolled away from each shot, and the beams struck other vessels instead. Soldiers aboard one barge cried out in alarm when Black Hawk flew overhead then ducked down, putting the hull between her and the enraged Pegasi. Pegasus plowed through the upper deck, flinging soldiers off with his wings.

"WHIP LASH THRASH!" Pegasus screamed when thin black cables snared his legs and wings. The cords went taut and Black Hawk's lips spread in a vicious grin. "Pop goes the pony…" she sang and began giggling. Pegasus narrowed his eyes in resignation.

The cords snapped in half when a white Pegasi with red and blue detailing flew past. Black Hawk watched, bewildered as the young Pegasi tilted to the side enough for her to see the young brown-haired boy wearing white leather armor. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rowen exclaimed when Pegasus shrugged off the severed cords and took off flying alongside the newcomer. "Ooh, that boy's in for a spanking!"

"That boy's in for a butt-kicking!" Black Hawk snarled and dove in pursuit.

* * *

Charles winced as he cut into the tip of his left index finger. He set the scalpel down and retrieved an eyedropper filled with bright green fluid and applied two drops to the cut. The liquid sizzled and foamed and Charles waited a few seconds before wiping blood away with his thumb. No trace of a wound remained. Satisfied with the test, he picked up the filled IV bag and headed for Danae's room. The Thangien remained unconscious while he set up the drip.

"Dr. O'Connor? I'm surprised you're still here. I thought you were supposed to go off duty." Charles looked up and saw the pudgy doctor with the thin black mustache.

"I had a few minutes before my shift ended, and I thought I'd see to this patient and make sure she'd have no further complications. She ended up having a reaction to the standard drugs because of her rare blood condition, so I'm trying something different," Charles replied.

"Oh? Like what?" Charles glanced at the man, narrowing his eyes.

"Something different," he reiterated stiffly. The man clasped his hands behind his back.

"You know, I find it curious that you express such concern with this patient and go through such lengths on her behalf…what, given that she appears to be a friend of your daughter."

"My concern, as always, is with the health and well-being of any patient as is my duty, as my oath requires…" Charles growled and turned to face down the man, who stood at least two heads shorter than he. "If you excuse me, I should be going home, and _you_ have rounds to make," The tubby doctor stepped aside to let Charles pass, shutting the door behind him. He glanced through the window at the lavender-haired patient then turned around.

"Excuse me," he flagged down a passing nurse after Charles had walked out of earshot. "Can you fetch me the paperwork for the patient in room 4?"

* * *

"Ond, thon, list! GUELVAAT!" Geiro ordered. Several beams of light surged towards the west wall. Nether Spirits swarmed over the surface, creating a lattice with their bodies. The beams struck the barrier, and while some spirits burned away, the wall remained intact. Geiro huffed and began counting down again. His Rank's Pegasi flapped their wings to remain steady.

Chaizar threw the bloody and broken body of a Thangien against the wall. "Not so tough without their metal horses, are they?" he snorted and slapped his hands together.

"What do you think we should do with them? Personally, I'm in the mood for stew," Balthazar snickered and quivered in anticipation, rubbing his tongue over his fangs.

"Uh oh…" Scar muttered and Chaizar and Balthazar looked up to see what concerned him. They had forgotten about the Pegasi who now stood in the hall, maddened with grief.

"AIIIEEEEE!" The Night Warlords fled down the hall away from salvos of missiles and blasts from eye-beams. Not long after, three huge shafts of light plowed through the walls.

"I apologize, Master Talpa. It would seem the Outworlder woman is of great importance to her people for them to go to such lengths to avenge her," Dygra said.

"Look how they throw themselves heedlessly against my armies. The victories they celebrate now mean nothing in the end. Their number begins to dwindle, while mine are without count."

"Fortunately, the Guardian's shielding wards do not seem to encompass public areas."

"I find it curious that Dais would appear so distraught over the fate of this Outworlder woman…" The view screen showed Dais sitting in a plastic chair, his elbows resting on his knees and hands clasped infront of his mouth. Cale and Sehkmet sat next to him, trying to console him. "Could it be that he seeks to indulge in the pleasures of a mortal love to expunge his own dark history? The fool…when she dies, the pain will _break_ his soul."

"Emperor!" General Duratir ran into the room and bowed briefly. "The lower levels have been breached! I have sent forces to delay the Outworlders, but the inner chambers are exposed!"

"Yes! Drain your steeds of their power, Outworlder! The Nether Spirits are without limit; should one fall, another rises to take its place!" Bautan crowed when the spirit net deflected yet another cannon volley. Geiro remained undeterred and ordered his Rank to fire again. "What?" Bautan whirled around when a shuddering rumble echoed from inside the wall. Three beams of light erupted through the tiles and caught the spirits unawares, erasing dozens from existence. "EEP!" Bautan managed to avoid the beams that consumed the remaining Nether Spirits.

Witheren's Tears wept freely upon the decks of air barges as Australa and her Rank wove through the fleet. Dynasty Soldiers focused so much on attacking the passing riders they neglected to notice the simple black discs when they landed, clinging to the wood with solid thuds. The hissing of eye-beams and shrieking of missiles drowned out the low hum, and when the humming abruptly ceased, barges exploded in a zig-zag formation in the air.

So much of the battle hinged on the firepower of the Pegasi alone that the Dynasty forgot about the fighting capability of the Thangiens themselves. Tornath crouched in the saddle and sprang onto the deck of a barge when Grey Fury flew close to the rail. Soldiers had no time to react before he lashed out with his morning star and whipped the cord around, bisecting them neatly. He darted over to the opposite rail and sprang into the air, lashing out and burying the spiked club into the hull of a nearby ship. Soldiers hurled spears at him, but he swung out of the way and disappeared under the hull. The soldiers peered over the rail and readied their weapons.

Tornath landed quietly on the deck behind them and retracted the weapon cord. One soldier turned around when it heard the thump of boots against wood. The rest of the group didn't have time to face the Thangien as the morning star tore their heads off from their shoulders. Tornath howled to summon Grey Fury back and hopped into the saddle when the Pegasi flew past.

Rona handed Red Thunder's reins to her passenger and extended her spear. She leapt onto the deck of a nearby vessel, landing in the thick of the crew of soldiers. They tried to impale her with their own weapons, but she cut through them, quickly reducing them to piles of smoking scraps. Red Thunder tried to make another pass to retrieve Rona, but spears from neighboring barges drove him away. Rona scowled and sprang into the air anyway, and shockingly enough, used the Dynasty spears as a path by springing along the shafts. She stabbed her spear into the wooden hull and flipped up and around before lashing up with her heels and striking a soldier in the face.

The soldiers on a barge passing below nocked arrows and took aim at the red-haired Thangien woman clinging to the hull. Rona looked over her shoulder and gasped when she saw the bowstrings being pulled back. She pulled her spear out and let herself plummet towards the barge. The soldiers let their arrows fly, expecting to kill such an easy target. Rona surprised them by spinning as she fell. She held her spear infront of her, using it to deflect all of the arrows. A missile destroyed the barge before she could land on the deck, but much to her relief, Red Thunder swooped under her. The young Thangien girl in the saddle caught Rona by the hand and helped her climb back into the saddle, smiling in relief after having lost her own mount earlier.

Phaeryn howled and lashed a Metra Wave at the north wall, obliterating any air barges in its path. One managed to evade the wave and soldiers hurled spears and shot arrows at the Metraind. Before they struck, a female rider swept up to shield him. Her body shuddered from the impact and she slid out of the saddle with several arrows riddling her body and splintered shafts of spears protruding from her chest. Rowen rushed over and caught her, setting her down gently on a nearby rooftop. The woman blinked a few times before letting out a ragged sigh.

"This…this is a desecration!" Rowen snarled and looked up when the woman's Pegasi threw itself into the thick of the fleet, screaming bloody vengeance. "I'm sorry Ryo and Azuro, but I can't call myself a Ronin Warrior if I let this continue!" Rowen ascended and nocked an arrow. "ARROW SHOCK WA-gyeaaaaaaagh!" Rowen squawked when it felt like a jumbo jet passed within inches of him…only jumbo jets didn't let out thunderous roars. The force of the immense form's passing caused him to sink down in the air until he alighted back on the roof.

Phaeryn's eyes widened and he and the surviving members of his Rank managed to steer out of the way of the luminous leviathan. Much slower air barges splintered upon impact with the wing limbs. Pearly white talons latched onto the crumbling roof and shattered lower walls. The long tail lashed through the air and the wings stretched along the length of the fortress. The walls cracked and crumbled when the gleaming nose plate rammed into the structure.

"That blasted wyrm will tear the fortress out from under us!" Duratir shouted when the throne room itself began quaking. Bits of wood and stone rained down from the ceiling.

"Curse Wildfire. I cannot banish the beast when it is fully manifested," Dygra snarled.

"Emperor, what shall we do?" Duratir asked. Talpa sat in his throne, unmoving and emotionless. Dygra nodded understandingly and stepped forward, spreading her wings and raising her fingers high. Energy began crackling at the tips and sparks flew into the air.

"Genius, Ryo! Not like they can refuse help from a titanodracoasaur!" Rowen grinned.

"Get back here, you little brat! I haven't forgotten what your horse did to my hair and my wings!" Black Hawk dove after the white Pegasi and his rider. She hissed when eye-beams sliced into her shoulder and looked behind her at the black Pegasi. She uncoiled her whip to strike, but had to bank sharply when missiles fired from the white Pegasi barely missed her wings.

Raurgoth dug his teeth into the fortress and wrenched his head from side to side. He leaned back and began taking deep breaths, but before he had a chance to unleash his flame, crackling bolts of black energy struck his body and caused him to lose his grip. Nalore squeaked and threw up her arms reflexively when the Inferno Dragon fell towards the building she'd landed on. The skyscraper shuddered and cracked under the weight. The long tail draped down the side of the building. Inside, civilians ignorant of the battle raging above the clouds panicked and evacuated their offices. Nalore lowered her arms and gazed up in awe at the dragon titan standing above her, perched securely on the roof. Raurgoth spread his wings, ready to launch into the air again.

The energy field expanded, driving away the surviving riders. The remnants of the Dynasty fleet used the opportunity to withdraw to the outer walls. "What the heck's going on? Why are we pulling back?" Black Hawk demanded and approached Duratin's flagship.

"Mistress Dygra is performing a phase shift into her Dark Dimension. I suggest you remain close. You wouldn't want to be left behind," Bautan stated when he arrived.

"Phase shift? We're retreating? Are you serious?" Black Hawk's eyes widened.

"The enemy has sustained heavy losses, but so have we. A tactical withdrawal, therefore, is in order," Duratin explained. Black Hawk sneered and looked at the observing riders.

"Celebrate all you want, Outworlders! You won this battle, but it doesn't matter in the long run! By now, your precious princess is already dead!" she screamed. The remaining riders watched the ruined fortress fade from sight entirely.

"I guess I shoulda told her why I came here in the first place." Azuro looked down and smiled when he spotted YuliTakin hovering close by. "I'd just come from the hospital. Danae's gonna make a full recovery," the boy announced. Pleased with the news, Azuro threw back his head and let loose a reverberating cry. The surviving riders-Australa, Rona, and Tornath included-contributed their own triumphant wails. Even Raurgoth boomed his jubilation.

* * *

Shannon passed by the hall but frowned when she saw the door ajar. She checked to make sure no one saw her and crept towards the door. Her eyes widened in shock when she saw the short balding doctor standing beside Danae's bed, pulling out the IV needles. "What the hell are you doing?" Shannon demanded and stormed inside.

"I am taking custody of this patient."

"You can't do that! Stop! She needs that to heal!" Shannon protested.

"I began to get suspicious when the supply logs showed an IV bag missing, yet no drugs. I also discovered this woman's records had been falsified…namely by you." Shannon bit her lip and averted her gaze. "This woman's blood type doesn't match any known type on record…leaving me to believe she isn't from around here…and by that, I mean not from Earth."

"She's a friend of mine. Please, she shouldn't have even been here in the first place!"

"I know of a few people who would be _very_ interested to study this specimen…"

"She's not an alien! She's human, same as you or me! Stop! STOP!" Shannon lunged and grabbed the doctor's wrist, but he whirled around and pinned her against the wall by her arms.

"You conceited Americans! You think you can just breeze on in here and run the place! _I_ should have been appointed chief doctor, but your father took that away from me!" Shannon stared into the eyes of the man, utterly stunned to be hearing this ranting from a mortal. "Oh, but I've caught on to your little secret. I'll expose the two of you and this woman you've been harboring!" Shannon squirmed, trying to grab her pendant, but her fingers kept falling short.

"Nich…Nichratho…" The doctor threw a startled glance over his shoulder when he felt something grab his arm tightly. "Il selch de ulr dast ralm…" Danae growled, leaning out of bed.

"What? Get your hand off of me! Unhand me, this instant!" the doctor released Shannon and tried to push Danae away. Shannon wasted no time and ran her thumb over one of the gems.

"Tuvo nasurin! Tuvo hisrubt!" The machine monitoring Danae's pulse began beeping loudly.

"Let go right this second!" the doctor reached for a nearby metal tray.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" The doctor grunted in surprise when a pair of strong hands slammed him against the wall and held him up off the floor. "Shannon, you okay?" a stocky round-faced man with dark gray hair and blue eyes asked.

"I'm allright, but Danae-this bastard tried to kill her! You bastard! You rat _asshole_!" Shannon screamed and began beating at the doctor's chest with her fists.

"I did no such thing-" the doctor protested. The young man glared at him.

"That true? Hey, my buddy Dais is getting married someday. You were gonna kill his fiancée!" Kento accused and stepped away from the wall, carrying the doctor by his coat. "There an iso ward somewhere I can beat him up in?" he glanced at Shannon.

"Next floor down, hall B."

"Wait? What? You-you can't do this to me! Do you have any idea who I am?"

"Yeah. You're the meat that's gonna go between my knuckle sandwich," Kento said calmly and dragged the squirming doctor out of the room. Shannon waited until they'd left before turning her attention to Danae. The Thangien clutched the bed rail and panted heavily.

"Hey, get yourself back into bed. Come on, you've had more than enough excitement for one night," Shannon scolded and helped ease the Thangien into the sheets. She deftly reattached the IV needle and carefully inspected the rest of the equipment. "You okay now?"

"Is Dais here?" Danae asked weakly.

"In the waiting room worried sick. You…you want me to fetch him?"

"Yes…I would speak to him…"

"Allright…I'll be back," Shannon patted her shoulder gently then exited the room.

Ryo looked up when he heard the doors creak open and saw Shannon peek into the room, searching for someone. By now, all of the other Ronin had arrived and waited for news. Sehkmet whapped Dais in the shoulder and pointed to the door. The Ronin of Illusion stood up shakily and walked over. Shannon gestured for him to enter the hall and shut the door behind them.

"How is she?"

"She'll be fine. The wound's healing just fine thanks to the Richtho tea. Fortunately, the blade didn't breach the uterine wall, so both she and the-"

"Wait, what?" Shannon's eyes widened when she heard the surprise in Dais' voice.

"…she didn't tell you?" Shannon placed her knuckles against her mouth. "Oh God…"

"Tell me what? Shannon?" Dais narrowed his eyes. "Shannon, what are you talking about? Tell me what?" He grabbed her by the shoulder when she started to turn around.

"I can't! Dais, I can't! Doctor-patient confidentiality applies to Thangiens too! …She wanted to be the one to tell you. Go on in, you can see her. She's awake," Shannon gestured down the hall. Dais glanced at the door marked room 4 then at Shannon before leaving.

Ryo turned around when he heard the doors open again but this time Rowen entered the room. "How'd the battle go?" Rowen threw him a sharp glance and bit his lip.

"Talpa moved his fortress out of the Realm, so I guess we won't have to deal with him for a while, but Ryo…they lost a _lot_ of riders, and almost half as many Pegasi. No one we know, thankfully, but still…Was it worth it; to go to all this for Danae's sake?"

"…Would we have done things differently if it was one of us?" Ryo countered softly.

"Thelektukak, en borro nucan," Dais whispered. Danae smiled and scooted up slightly, trying to sit. Dais reached over and pushed the button meant to raise the bed. "You doing allright?" Danae nodded and clasped her hands under her breasts. She settled into the pillows and sighed.

"Part of me…almost regretted agreeing to accompany Pegasus … I feared I would never return home. But now, I have no regrets, because I would not have arrived here to meet the Ronin, and in turn you. I considered myself blessed by Eyurodin that she guided me safely. I considered myself blessed by Witheren, that I was able to free Pegasus, and join the Ronin in their battles." Dais's face wrinkled in a concerned frown. "I considered myself blessed by Roth, that against all odds, I prevailed. And now, Ritho has given me," Danae reached over and grabbed his wrist, pulling his arm towards her. "A final blessing."

Dais' eye went wide when he saw where she placed his hand.

* * *

"Finished already?" Shannon asked when she saw Kento return to the waiting room.

"Yup," he replied and slapped his hands together.

"Did you…" Shannon trailed off and glanced at his knuckles, not noticing any bruising.

"Naaww, he passed out before I could even make a fist. But that provided an excellent opportunity for Kayura to try out this new spell she's been working on. The good doctor has suddenly decided to give up big medicine and pursue more humanitarian efforts. Far away. In other continents. Like Africa. Oh dear…I hope he doesn't end up in Tanzania…" Kento frowned and tapped his chin. Shannon giggled at the notion but looked up when she heard the door open.

Everyone in the waiting room fell silent when they saw Dais enter. He pressed his right hand against the wall and leaned against it, almost to the point of slumping. Shannon felt her heart turn cold and heavy and her throat became hard with dread. A roiling sick sensation flooded her gut. Kento's shoulders sagged when he saw Dais' expression. No one said a word while Dais walked over to the nearest chair and slid into it very slowly. He leaned forward and clasped his hands.

Ryo was the first to move towards him. He opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. Dais kept his gaze on the tiles and remained silent. "Dais…I'm…I-I'm so sorry…she-"

"Imnagafah…" Dais whispered. Ryo blinked in confusion. "Imnagafah…"

"What?" Ryo glanced at Rowen, who shrugged, completely at a loss. Ryo glanced back at Dais, frowning in worry. "Dais…I don't understa-" Ryo placed a cautious hand on his shoulder.

"I'm…" Dais ran his tongue over his lips and looked up slowly. His mouth opened and closed jerkily and his lower jaw quivered. "I'm…going to be a father." he said so hoarsely, Ryo almost didn't understand right away. Ryo's eyes widened in disbelief at the same time Dais' lips began to spread in a smile. His breath came out in brief wheezes and his body started to shake all over from quiet laughter. His lips peeled back over his teeth and he began shaking violently.

"I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!" Ryo had no time to react as Dais sprang up and wrapped his arms around him, pinning the Ronin Leader's arms to his sides. Dais swung him around twice then released him, sending him staggering back. Ryo almost landed on his backside but Anubis caught him by the arm and steadied him. "I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!" Dais cried again and sagged back into his seat awkwardly, almost sliding off of the chair when his legs seemed to go limp. "I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!" he almost screamed and took several deep breaths in heaving gulps. Tears streamed from his good eye and his body shook from giddy laughter. "I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER! I'M GOING TO BE A FATHER!" he cried until his throat went sore and rocked back and forth in his chair.

Cale and Sehkmet rushed over to congratulate him. Sehkmet tousled the white hair and Cale jabbed Dais in the ribs playfully. Kento folded his arms over his chest and smiled proudly, and Shannon clamped a hand over her mouth, barely able to contain her relief. Joy proved contagious and the other Ronin voiced their happiness. Dais clamped a hand over his chest and nearly fell over from giggling, but Sehkmet nudged him back into his seat.

"It's so priceless when there's good news…" a nurse standing in the hall observing those gathered in the waiting room brushed tears from her eyes.

"And so the cycle goes. From death comes new life. From past evil, comes purest good. From the warriors of the present comes the next generation of hero. _This_ is the ultimate triumph over darkness. _This_ is the beauty of the battlefield." The nurse glanced to the side when she heard a coarse voice and saw a tall woman leaning against the wall. Dark red hair flowed down her back and poked out in all directions on the top of her head. She wore a dusty denim jacket over a white shirt and brown corduroy pants tucked into what looked like high black rain boots.

"Are you a friend of the family?" the nurse asked.

"In a manner of speaking…I came to check up on a patient here."

"Which one?" the nurse fished out the patient list.

"Danae Vanstantvoort," the woman replied, keeping her eyes closed.

"Um…we don't have a patient here by that name…" the nurse flipped through the pages.

"Yes. You. Do." The nurse blinked in confusion but didn't pry. The woman headed for the stairwell and opened her eyes when she turned away so the nurse did not see the color.

Pitch black with glowing orange pupils.


	17. Symphony of Flame

Symphony of Flame

By Mardrena

Metal boots clacked against the pavement as a group of armored figures made their way down the empty street. "Thankfully the city had the sense to evacuate and block off this section of downtown after the Thangien's siege," Ryo commented and surveyed the area.

"Yup. Makes it much easier for us to thrash the entire place again," Tanya quipped.

"We're gonna be making overtime this week for sure…" Sehkmet grumbled.

"…Don't look now, but I think there's trouble in Paradise," Cale whispered and elbowed Sehkmet before gesturing off to one side with his claws.

"Just because your injuries are healed doesn't mean you should be risking your life so soon!"

"I have every right to battle the enemy. Witheren's domain may be battle, but Ritho would also demand that I fight to insure a safe future for our child."

"What difference would it make if you end up getting killed before you make it to term?"

"…Who said _either_ of us will die?" Danae folded her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes at Dais, who stared back at her silently. One lavender eyebrow arched up and the right-side corner of her lip turned up in a very slight smirk.

"…I love you. _SO_ much," Dais spoke aloud and pulled Danae close. The two embraced and kissed passionately. Sehkmet and Cale's jaws dropped, and when Anubis looked over his shoulder to observe the scene, his eyes went wide in surprise.

"…was I ever like that with Laura?" he whispered under his breath.

"They make such a cute couple," Kento chuckled and looked up when he heard two approaching whinnies. Red Thunder and Grey Fury alighted in the street and stepped close.

"RyoTakin, I strongly object to this action. If you plan to confront Ouagli himself, then all of Thanged should come in force. At least one or two Ranks of seven riders," Tornath argued.

"Look Tornath, I appreciate the offer, but your people bled enough the other day. We're fairly certain you succeeded in crippling Talpa's armies. I only requested the two of you come because you were instrumental in defeating Dygra at the Battle of the Citadel."

"Then we will abide by your request," Rona spoke, interrupting any additional protest from Tornath. "We are honored to be granted the opportunity to bring the battle full circle." Grey Fury let out a disgruntled snort but Red Thunder and Pegasus grumbled retorts, swishing their tails.

"As soon as the others get here we'll begin. This is liable to get really messy, so be careful if the battle ends up taking you to a populated area," Ryo cautioned. Just then, two sets of glowing energy rings formed in the air and swept down, depositing six figures. Cye had one arm around Kayura's waist and his other hand grasping a handful of Whiteblaze's fur. Shannon had her arm hooked through Sage's and one hand resting atop Blackblaze's helmet.

"Everyone here?" Cye asked and looked around.

"Just about. Go ahead and call out your Incarnations. Dygra didn't do anything to Raurgoth the other day, so I don't think she can stuff the cats back in the bag once they're out," Rowen stated. The younger Ronin raised their rings and called forth their respective spirit companions.

"Razor Wing, I want you to stay with Rona, Tornath, and Pegasus. You'll be helping them against any airborne attackers. Everyone else will help with the ground forces," Ryo instructed. Lyor let out an approving growl and Jaguaradina swished her tail in anticipation. Boulderdash bleated and stamped a hoof and Iguadalupen shook his dewlap. Foam Reaver said nothing and remained in his spirit sea. Razor Wing glided over to Pegasus and alighted on the saddle. He began preening his feathers, and Pegasus flicked his ears, pleased by the company.

"Just give the word, Ryo, and we'll begin," Kayura said. Ryo glanced once more at the gathered fighters then nodded at her. Kayura planted the Staff in the pavement and knelt down. Shannon summoned the Ronin Cross in sword form and grasped the hilt with both hands.

"By the power of Wildfire, Halo, Strata, Hardrock, Torrent-" Shannon began.

"By the power of the Staff of Ancients-" Kayura intoned.

"We challenge you, dread evil. Come forth into our world! Let there be no dark corner in which to hide, no sanctuary in the hearts of men in which to cower. Face the light and be judged!" the two shouted in unison. A large beam of golden light erupted from the orb atop the Staff and struck the pavement several blocks away. Five beams of colored light spewed forth from the gems in the Ronin Cross and melded into one, becoming white and striking a spot on the opposite side of the same block as the Staff's beam.

The ground began to rumble and the Ronin tensed and readied their weapons. The pavement split, bursting asunder when a massive lacquered red structure surged up from the depths. The ornamental spikes on either side of the structure dug into buildings on either side of the street, leaving deep gouges in the walls. Dirt and bits of pavement rained from the corners of the ornate roof as the structure rose above the city skyline, towering over most surrounding buildings.

The painted wooden doors slowly groaned open, and instead of seeing the rest of the street on the other side, the Ronin glimpsed into a hideous realm of twisted rock formations and a polluted black sky. Violet lightning crackled and forked into a single point in the air. The collected energy began to take shape into the visage of a helmeted head with two huge horns.

"I must confess, Ronin Warriors. I find myself surprised that you summon me into your Realm of your own accord. Could it be that you cannot exist without the darkness? Does the battle lust run so deep in your souls, that you sub-consciously do not _wish_ to be rid of evil?"

"We didn't call you to launch a meaningful debate with you, Talpa. We called you here so we can be rid of you once and for all. Permanently!" Ryo shouted.

"Somehow your altruistic naïveté does not surprise me, Ronin Leader. I will _never_ be 'rid of' by whatever means you contrive. The darkness inherent in men will always call me back, in one form or another. Oh, but there are 'heroes' such as yourself who would challenge my rule. It is a cycle far older than my own existence, but one where I relish the opportunity to seed chaos into your Realm and reap the bountiful harvest of wicked hearts."

"I knew it. He's too much of a coward to face us in person after the Thangiens tore his army a new one," Sage snorted.

"And you, my once-faithful servants. My disappointment in you has not waned, for you to surrender your gifts to live as mortals do and partake in their excesses."

"I'm going to have to take a page out of Tanya's book," Sehkmet began and glanced at Tanya, who blinked at him. "And say censored you!" Sehkmet pointed at the gate.

"I will not dignify such childish outbursts with a personal response."

"Wuss!" Rowen cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted.

"Don't make us come in there after you!" Kento threatened.

"I said _I_ will not respond to your challenge, but my servants, who are very much still alive, will be more than happy to accommodate your wishes." Talpa's visage faded and the Nether Gate seemed to disintegrate. Ryo frowned when he heard a curious sound like the flapping of many wings. The outline of the former gate distorted and distant clusters of specks approached. The Ronin heard sounds like multitudes of chittering and squawking. The flapping grew louder.

"Oh shi-" Ryo exclaimed before throwing his arms up to shield himself when a massive tide of winged creatures overwhelmed them. They appeared to be the size of small dogs with forelegs ending in avian talons and hind legs ending in feline paws. Long thin tails snaked out from the backsides, ending in arrow-shaped tips. Forked tongues flicked in and out mouths that ended in wicked curved beaks. Wings adorned with brown feathers swept through the air.

"Tainted gryphons! Dygra's creations, no doubt!" Anubis shouted above the commotion. A cluster of the beasts dove down and snatched Rowen's bow straight out of his hands.

"Hey! Give that back!" he squawked and launched into the air after them.

"Everyone else, stick to the plan!" Ryo ordered. Sehkmet, Cale, Cye, and Tanya took off in one direction while Rona, Tornath, Pegasus, and Razor Wing took to the air. Anubis, Dais, Kento, and Sage took off in another direction. Shannon straddled Whiteblaze and Danae mounted Blackblaze, who did not seem offended by the Thangien woman. The two tigers galloped off towards the distant docks. Ryo scooped up Kayura in his arms. "Guess that just leaves you and me," he said and crouched before making a powerful leap to the rooftops.

A gryphon squealed when Foam Reaver launched himself out of his sea and consumed it in a single gulp before diving back into the pavement. Lyor tackled another and brought it down spectacularly. Jaguaradina sprang onto a lamppost and pounced, breaking the spine of a passing gryphon. Boulderdash leapt atop an abandoned car and rose up on his hind legs, bringing his skull against an attacking gryphon with a loud crack. Iguadalupen scampered along the wall of a building and lashed with his tail, tearing through several gryphons using the sharp scaly spines. Unlike past abominations, the gryphons spewed dark red blood when dispatched.

"Those guys can't be up to any good," Sage commented when he looked up and spotted a handful of Nether Spirits led by Bautan flying towards the roof of the skyscraper Raurgoth had damaged during the Thangien's siege. Four of them took up positions along the edges of the roof and one settled in the center. Bautan himself hovered close to observe the spell-work.

"Oh, I remember that setup... They're summoning a Nether Bomb!" Kento cried.

"But…if they wanted to attack us, wouldn't they just summon it in the air?" Dais mulled.

"No…they want to launch it into the sky…but at what?" Anubis looked up, brow furrowed in deep thought. Then his eyes widened in horror. "They're targeting the Thanged Gate!"

"It's made of dererium. Could they even dent it?" Sage asked.

"We can't afford to take the risk. The anchor band may not be vulnerable, but the wormhole could be destabilized by such an energy-based attack. Rona and Tornath would be stranded here, as well as Danae, and we would be bereft of reinforcements from Thanged," Anubis stated.

"Well screw that then." Kento raised his bo and began twirling it. "IRON ROCK CRUSHER!" he directed his attack at the building's foundations.

Bautan looked over his shoulder and down at the approaching assault. "Over my partially-corporeal body!" he turned around and spread his fingers. Crackling bolts of dark energy surged down and wrapped around the base of the skyscraper. The force of Kento's attack struck the field head on, but while it shattered the surrounding street, the foundation remained intact.

"What the-he-he absorbed my attack? Hey! No fair!" Kento shook his fist angrily.

"It's no use. Once the launch sequence has been started, it cannot be stopped. Our only hope is to destroy it midair, and even then our powers alone may not be enough to breach the exterior shell," Dais admitted. As he spoke, layers of shadowy ice enveloped the walls of the building.

"Ryo's the only one I can think of who's successfully destroyed a Nether Bomb, and that was from within by using its own energy against it," Anubis stroked his chin.

"The Ancient used the Staff to stop one too. Maybe Kayura can help," Sage suggested.

"Kayura's with Ryo at present. They were going to engage Dygra when she appeared. We shouldn't interrupt their assignment. No, we'll have to tackle this on our own…" Anubis glanced at the opposite end of the street. He grabbed a length of his chain and held it taut then raised it, eyeballing one end against the top of the skyscraper and the other against the skyline. "Dais, you remember that mountain range relay we used when we were hunting Graunin?"

"Um…I remember it wasn't very successful in bringing him down…and that it took us two weeks to find Sehk floating in the English Channel," Dais shrugged.

"It might be our only chance. Dais, you'll start off at that building over there." Anubis pointed down the street at a bank. "Kento, you'll be at the midpoint there." He pointed at a large theater complex. "I'll be here at the end to launch off Sage."

"Wait, what? I don't understand what you want me to do," Sage argued.

"I've plotted out a relay we'll use to catapult you into the sky to intercept the Nether Bomb."

"Why me?" Sage blinked in confusion. Anubis pointed at his sword.

"I'm told your blade was reforged recently, out of dererium. It may proof you against the dark energies and allow you to breach the outer shell."

"Couldn't we just teleport up there?" Kento asked. Anubis shook his head.

"You'd need a clear line of sight, and there would still be Bautan to contend with. If we destroy it too close to the ground, the explosion would level half the city. No, this is the only logical solution. To your positions everyone! Sage, you go with Dais to begin. Let's pray to the gods-both here and elsewhere-that we succeed."

* * *

"Well we're here. Hopefully Rowen finishes lollygagging and gets back before our guest arrives," Shannon muttered. Whiteblaze stood next to her and peered at his reflection in the water of the bay. Nearby stood the partial wreck of the Harbor's framework, marked by warning signs explaining the delay in completion. Blackblaze had assumed his bipedal mode and folded his arms over his chest. Danae stood next to him and glanced up at his face.

"You seem troubled, Phitchiaje."

"I thought my vengeance complete with the death of Pharaohn, but I realize now only when all of Dygra's twisted progeny have been exterminated will I truly feel at peace, if such a thing is possible for me," Blackblaze snarled and furrowed his brow. Then he frowned and glanced at Danae. "And can you please _stop_ calling me that? I've been around your people long enough to learn your language. You keep calling me 'black tiger'. My name is Black_blaze_."

"Well…if you must be particular…Phit is darkness, or black. Rhakka is flame untamed, or 'Wildfire'. I can call you Phitrhak, if you prefer."

"That _would_ be adequate," Blackblaze grumbled.

"I did not know you were capable of taking such a form. You somewhat resemble one of the Fendahu; the cat-lords of Fienlor. Of course, they are small and thin, and their fur is coarse and stiff. Not at all soft and majestic like yours," Danae reached up and stroked Blackblaze's cheek.

"Stop! Stopstopstop! You're embarrassing me infront of Whiteblaze!" Blackblaze protested and batted the yellow-gloved hand away gently. Shannon clamped a hand over her mouth to stifle a giggle and even Whiteblaze seemed to grin in delight. "You say something, 'Guardian'?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing. Just…well…I _am_ kind of unsettled…about Black Hawk…" Shannon averted her gaze. "It's strange…after everything she's done, a small part of me just won't let go of the hope that she can be saved… Cale's right: he and the other Dark Warlords probably did worse things in their lifetimes, and for a lot longer."

"I understand how you feel, Shannon, but forgiveness cannot be forced, it must be earned. The Phitmorind earned their forgiveness long ago, and to this day strive to atone for their sins of the past. If the phitvieke is to be spared, she must be prepared to make the same sacrifices."

"Where _is_ that blasted blue-haired whelp…" Blackblaze growled and lashed his tail.

* * *

The gryphon carrying Rowen's Strata Bow panted rapidly and flapped its wings laboriously. It squealed in pain when three arrows pierced its back between the wings, releasing the bow in its death throes. Rowen dove down and grabbed his bow as it fell towards the city. "I'll be taking that, thank you." He paused to catch his bearings. "Oh for the love of-I'm clear across the city!" he exclaimed in frustration before speeding off towards the docks.

Tornath swatted gryphons down in clusters with his morning star, and Rona skewered them like a kabob with her spear. One bold gryphon snuck up behind her and landed on Red Thunder's rump then clamped down on the metal segments connecting the tail. Red Thunder whinnied shrilly and lashed backwards with a hoof, catching the gryphon in the stomach.

"What happened?" Tornath called, concerned by the cry.

"One of the creatures bit Red Thunder…and…he _felt_ it!" Rona remarked and stared at the deep groove marring the otherwise smooth dererium close to the tail.

"Heeghah!" Cye let out a throaty cry and sliced a gryphon in half when it tried to dive him. Dark red blood sprayed from the corpse, and Cye grimaced with unease.

"For pity's sake, grow a stomach already, Cye!" Cale scolded.

"They're not real animals. They're just mockeries spawned through Dygra's dark arts," Sehkmet stated. Cye took a few quick breaths before nodding in agreement and readying for another attack. Sehkmet threw two of his swords at a nearby wall and created a vapor cloud that consumed a flock of the creatures. They dropped to the sidewalk with feathers disintegrating from the acidic mist. Cale swept his cape to one side and caught a passing gryphon in its folds, then grabbed the corners and pulled them together. He swung around and used the weight to club other nearby gryphons silly. Tanya sniped a good number of the beasts with her chakaram and blade launcher, but oddly enough seemed to be fighting with eyes closed.

Cale flinched and looked up when he heard an avian screech, but relaxed when he saw the blue-feathered eagle circling overhead. Cye frowned and offered his arm as a perch, which Razor Wing settled upon gratefully. "…He says the Pegasi are in trouble. These critters are somehow able to damage dererium, and Rona and Tornath are worried they'll get overwhelmed."

"Wait a sec…I thought dererium was supposed to be immune or something?" Cale argued.

"The Thangiens are resilient to Dynasty influence, but Dygra is able to utilize more ancient forms of magic than even Talpa knows. That's how Black Hawk and the Mutant Warlords were able to take down more Thangiens than all of Talpa's armies combined," Sehkmet explained.

"You think the Pegasi's air shields can protect their riders from our own powers?" Cale asked.

"They protect them from entering the atmosphere, so I imagine they should," Cye shrugged.

"Okay…have Razor Wing give Rona and Tornath a heads up. We need to clear the skies of these things before they decide to switch to the Dererium Diet…and I have an idea of how to do that…" Cale tapped his chin and glanced at Tanya, who still fought with her eyes closed.

"Did you guys say something?" she raised an eyebrow and turned to the side.

* * *

"Such fools…the Ronin devoted all their resources to the attack in the city, they neglected to leave any protection for this dwelling," Chaizar chuckled.

"The Guardian's wards may prevent scrying, but they will not stop us from laying waste to this place," Scar added as they approached the estate.

"Three of the women are here too! I can taste their scents! Whatever damage the Ronin inflict upon the Dynasty, they will suffer in return a thousand-fold!" Balthazar crowed.

"Hey…did any of you hear that odd metal click?" Chaizar paused abruptly and twitched his ears. The Night Warlords scrambled for cover when bullets peppered the ground at their feet. They dove behind the relative safety of tree trunks. Chaizar tried to peer around the side and study the driveway and the red and white vehicle parked there, but had to hide from gunfire.

"It has been so long, I had almost forgotten about Strata's woman," Scar grumbled.

"Hey! Women! It would be better for you if you just surrender! Maybe we'll be merciful, and you can live as concubines in our service!" Balthazar shouted. Bullets sprayed the tree he hid behind, digging into the bark. Balthazar curled up tight, holding his tail around his ankles.

"Keep provoking her. She'll use up her ammunition that much faster," Chaizar urged.

"You got enough bullets there?" Mia commented and glanced at Roxi, who had belts upon belts of shotgun shells and revolver bullets wrapped around almost every inch of her body.

"I learned my lesson from the Citadel," Roxi drawled and reloaded quick enough to pelt Balthazar in the shoulder when he tried to creep forward. Roxi reached for her holster and pulled out a revolver and held it out towards Mia, offering the grip.

"Get that thing away from me!" Mia squawked.

"C'mon, Mia. You're gonna need to protect yourself."

"Look, just because I relaxed my rules about your guns doesn't mean I'm about to go all Calamity Jane. I'm not the kind of person who'd resort to violence, even with my life at stake."

"Fine…here Brit," Roxi handed the revolver to Britania, who reluctantly accepted it.

"My hide is thicker. I will act as a shield. You two get ready to attack," Scar instructed and crossed his arms infront of his eyes. He stood up and began walking towards the car the women used as a barricade. His body jolted from the impact of scattershot, but he kept walking.

"He's not stopping…" Roxi muttered and reloaded.

"Do what Tanya would do: Shoot him in the crotch!" Mia suggested.

"Yeah! Bob Barker him!" Brit shouted.

"NOOO!" Scar abruptly turned tail and dove back behind his tree, cowering much the same way as Balthazar. Chaizar clamped a paw over his face and pulled down over his muzzle.

"I'd like to think they'll give up and leave, but that's just wishful thinking," Mia sighed.

"Well, there's always the backup plan," Roxi drawled.

"Balthazar? Balthazar, can you hear me? You're the snake one, aren't you?" Roxi and Mia gave Brianna funny looks when she started shouting. Balthazar blinked and raised a scaly eyebrow when he heard his name being called. "I remember you from the Halloween party. You looked like you were really having fun. Did you ever stop to consider that if you kill us, you'll be destroying all those nice things about us mortals? If you keep trying to kill us, all three of you are going to die, and I don't think Dygra or Talpa will care much if you do. _You_ should be the ones surrendering. If the Dark Warlords could turn good, there's still hope for you three!"

"Don't listen to her! She's just trying to confuse us!" Chaizar snapped. Balthazar glanced from him to the car then scowled and curled his lip.

"It was worth a try…" Mia said to Brit, who sighed and shrugged.

* * *

"Any sign of her?" Ryo asked and set Kayura down on a rooftop gently.

"I sense her…she's definitely in the area," Kayura muttered and surveyed their surroundings.

"Come on out Dygra! We know you're out here! You too scared to face us in person? That why you're hiding behind your minions? Well guess what, once the other Ronin Warriors take out what's left of your army, we'll come after you! We won't let you escape to another Realm!" Ryo shouted defiantly. Nothing responded except the whistle of wind.

The rings of the Staff began clanging and Kayura turned away from Ryo to pinpoint the source of the disturbance. She whirled back around when she heard Ryo cry out and much to her horror saw the Ronin Leader being steadily consumed by tendrils of black smoke that twined about his arms. Ryo managed to call down his face mask before being completely enveloped in a seething orb of darkness. Kayura reached towards the orb but withdrew her hand when an icy pain shot through her fingers. She turned around upon hearing the clack of footsteps.

"Do you know why I 'hide' behind my minions?" Kayura tightened her grip around the Staff when she saw the Dynasty Beast Warden. "Were I to face you alone with all my might, you mortals would complain about it being 'unfair'." Dygra folded her wings over her shoulders like a cape and splayed her fingers at her sides. "The Ancient's Will may proof you against my magic, but it _won't_ shield you from my blades." Tendrils of inky black smoke snaked from her fingertips and formed two jagged black swords, identical to the one she'd used against Danae.

"I'm no longer a frightened little girl, Dygra, nor am I Talpa's puppet to dance at his every whim. I am the Legacy of the Ancient, and I will not be broken by you or any other form of shadow," Kayura declared and raised one hand and wrapped it around the ridged section of the top of the Staff. Dygra raised an eyebrow and watched intrigued as rings of light expanded from the golden orb and began sweeping down. She had to close her eyes against the brilliant light.

When she opened them, she felt mildly surprised upon seeing Kayura clad in a strange ornate set of armor. Thick blue fabric protected her upper arms and thighs, and green lacquered plates protected her chest, forearms, and shins. A golden crest depicting a fearsome guardian spirit curled up from the top of the dark green helmet. In her hand, Kayura no longer held the Staff but a sword with a smooth round pommel adorned with gold wings and rings hanging from the hilt.

"The Ancient was always more priest than warrior, and Anubis more warrior than priest, but _I_ now embody the balance between the two, and I will prove your equal."

"We shall see about that," Dygra sniffed and spread her wings before lunging.

* * *

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sage called from where he stood on the edge of a roof.

"Well…worst case scenario you could end up flying halfway across Europe…no wait…this location you'd prob end up in the Pacific…meh," Dais shrugged and began whipping his morning star. In the distance they could see the affected skyscraper start to shudder from the stress of the empowered Nether Bomb. "Get ready!"

Sage's gaze darted from side to side as he watched the spiked club, waiting for the right speed and opportunity. He tensed then pounced and grabbed the cord just under the club. He groaned from the intense forces tugging at his body as Dais swung him around. "I. Think. I'm. Going. To. Be. Sick!" Sage growled through his teeth.

"Vethu!" Dais shouted and Sage released the moment he lined up with Kento's position.

Kento fired his own hook cable and caught Sage as he approached then swung him towards Anubis's post. The walls of the skyscraper began to collapse and Bautan flew back to watch as the Nether Bomb rose into the air steadily; a pulsating, squirming mass of hideous blood-red fibers and knotted black tissue. "Up you go!" Kento howled and Sage released his grip.

Anubis swung his chain and lashed at Sage, catching him by the waist. "Gods speed!" he cried and flung him at the now-airborne Nether Bomb.

"What in the Nether are those fools trying to accomplish?" Bautan snorted.

"Gyaaagh!" Sage cried when he quickly approached the surface and drew his sword, plunging the blade into the mess of cords. The Nether Bomb emanated heat that fatigued him and he immediately felt the sticky surface grasping at his legs where he knelt. He tried to pull his sword out but the red mass seemed to cling to the blade. He remembered all too well Ryo's account of his experience. "Ngnhh…Eyurodin…Lady of Flames…I don't know…if you actually exist…or if you can hear me…but if you do, and if you can…then please…grant me the strength to see this done!" Sage cried and closed his eyes as fleshy black coils twined about his arms.

Sage didn't see his armor pulsing with soft emerald green light, but he felt the sickening heat give way to invigorating warmth. He didn't see his blade glow with power, but he felt the sucking red surface yield and surrender its hold. The tendrils trying to pull him under disintegrated from the light and Sage slowly rose to his feet. When he opened his eyes, they glowed with a fearsome emerald light.

"THUNDER BOLT CUT!" he howled and plunged the blade through the outer shell.

Down below on the neighboring rooftop to the ruined skyscraper, Anubis, Kento, and Dais watched anxiously as the Nether Bomb continued its ascent high above the clouds. They flinched when they heard a booming echo and saw the pulsing red orb erupt into many fragments. They cheered in celebration but gasped when they saw a glowing green form plummeting to the earth.

Sage heard the faint flapping of the cloth strips on his shoulders and his body slowly turned around as he continued his plunge. He opened his eye a crack when he thought he heard a distant "QUAKE WITH FEAR!" He grunted when his body caught onto a length of chain then rolled to the side. He landed on another chain but his momentum kept him tumbling further and further.

"WEB OF DECEPTION!" He felt air pressing against his cheek and his hair whipping about under his helmet. He opened his eyes again and saw knotted white fibers coiling about his body. The fibers snapped from the strain but more underneath served to continue slowing him, braking his fall. The fibers broke, but one final net of webbing caught him and lowered him gently towards the pavement, setting him down first on his shoulder then laying him on his side.

Sage's eyes fluttered open and he gulped a few times, trying to ease the dam-like pressure building behind his ears. He looked to the side and saw a familiar form kneeling beside him. "Glad ya made it buddy. I wasn't really in the mood for street pizza," Kento smirked and patted him on the shoulder. Sage chuckled and sat up shakily. Kento helped support him and Sage heard other footsteps. He looked up and saw Anubis and Dais, both looking very happy.

"I don't believe it! Impossible! The energy should have smothered him!" Bautan cried and clenched his fists. "Those were the last of the spirits! It'll take weeks to summon more!" He raised an eyebrow and turned around when he thought he heard a curious sound, almost like distant laughter. "…Who's there? You dare laugh at the Chief Sorcerer of the Dynasty?"

"_such…such…such_ arrogance…_for you to think your energy ball could harm the Gate_…"

"Arrogant? Me? That's odd coming from someone who will not even show themselves!"

"_The Gate suffered no risk…but I find the Ronin's concern very noble. Just because a prayer goes unanswered, does not mean it goes unheard. The strength Halo used was _his_ and _his_ alone."_

"Who are you?" Bautan splayed his fingers and unleashed a spell of revealing. Violet energy crackled through the air but resulted in nothing more than a light show.

"_I am Good over Evil. I am Life over Death. I am the Turning of the Tide…and to me…you are _**NOTHING**!" The voice reverberated through Bautan's skull like an earthquake. He clutched the sides of his head and his eyes widened from sheer terror.

* * *

Blackblaze's fur bristled and his lips peeled up over his teeth in rage. He drew both Soul Swords and readied them. Whiteblaze positioned himself infront of Shannon and roared defiantly. Danae drew her own sword and narrowed her eyes. "Wow, you people must _really_ have a death wish if you think you can stop me with an overgrown cat, a overgrown cat with armor, a part-time nurse, and an Outworlder without her horse."

"TIGER BITE FURY!" Blackblaze wasted no time and unleashed his own might into a menacing feline avatar. Black Hawk remained in the air, completely at ease as the light surged towards her. Just before the attack connected, Black Hawk dove down sharply towards the bay then flapped her wings and darted forward. She belted Blackblaze in the chest with her elbow and sent him tumbling back until he struck a shipping container back-first. He tried to pry himself loose, but his armor had lodged into the metal snugly.

"I get Shannon…and I guess the cat's with you for, what, morale support?" Black Hawk glanced first at Shannon and Whiteblaze then at Danae. "But you…I'm kinda surprised you'd be so eager to throw your life away after dodging the bullet so soon."

"At any other time, in any other situation, I would gladly give my blood for the safety of another. But the Morning Mother will not permit me to die while I carry the gift of new life!"

"'New life'? What the heck are you-oh…" Black Hawk's eyes widened and her mouth tightened into a 'o' of surprise. "Ohh…oh oh ohhh…Dais knocked you up, didn't he!" Black Hawk began giggling. "I heard how he pitched a fit when Mom stabbed you!" Shannon wrinkled her nose upon hearing that statement. "Okay, okay, I have to thank you for telling me that, because now you've given me an even better reason to kill you," Black Hawk waved a hand.

"Jennifer, are you that blinded by hate that you can't see the bigger picture? Think about it: Dygra's going down today, and so is anyone else affiliated with her. You still have a chance to walk away from all this! Abandon Talpa and his insanity!" Shannon pleaded.

"Umm…..nooo… See, I _like_ this arrangement I have going. I get awesome cool powers to kill you with, and Talpa gets his choice of Mortal Realm real estate. Everyone ends up happy! Well except you, of course." Whiteblaze lashed his tail and tensed to pounce. "Oh come on. Four against one is hardly fair…How about we even up the odds." Black Hawk snapped her fingers and bolts of black lighting struck the pavement. Within seconds, dozens of Dynasty Soldiers crowded the docks. Danae brandished her sword and stood back to back with Shannon, who readied the Ronin Cross. "You may have wrecked most of Duratir's army, but there's still a good couple million where that came from," Black Hawk smirked and took to the air.

"Where the hell is Rowen!" Shannon hissed as soldiers started to close in around them.

"Nowhere near enough to help you, unfortunately. WHIP LASH THRA-hooooly shit!" Black Hawk squawked and banked to the side just in time to avoid a surge of golden light that barely scraped her wings. Some of the feathers cracked. "Hey! I just grew those back, you jerk!"

"Well, I _was_ aiming for your big ugly mug, to be honest," Rowen quipped and nocked another arrow. "You need any help down there, Blackblaze?" The tiger let out an indignant roar and wrenched himself free of the shipping container. "Okay. Lemme know if you do."

"It's weird that Shannon would have you as her shining armored knight and not Date, and that you'd be here instead of watching over your own girl, who I'm fairly certain is on the verge of being ripped to pieces by the Night Warlords," Black Hawk snorted.

"You know…any other time, I'd actually be worried, but Roxi's the kind of person who I completely trust to be able to defend herself and her friends."

* * *

Chaizar grabbed his tail just under the furry tuft and held it to the side slowly. He flinched when he heard the ping of gunfire and glanced at the tuft again. His eyes widened when he saw the middle section of the tip completely bare of fur. "This is absurd! To be at the mercy of mortal _women_ of all people! Of all the-wait…where's Balthazar?"

Some distance away, Balthazar slithered over the ground on his belly using his fingertips and toes to creep himself along, keeping himself under the cover of foliage. He peeked out through the bushes and saw Roxi reloading her Sharps and Mia and Brianna kneeling beside her. His forked tongue lashed out, tasting the air and fluttering in anticipation.

"Keep on trying, varmints! I'm only now just through my first belt!" Roxi shouted and shucked an empty ammo belt. Both she and Britania whirled around when they heard Mia yelp.

"I got her! I got her! I got Wildfire's woman!" Balthazar crowed, completely oblivious to the way Mia's eyebrows twitched. He had no time to react when Mia drove her elbow into his abdomen, just under the ribcage. He pitched forward from the impact, shuddering from a fit of coughing, but the retaliation didn't end there. Mia raised her knee and drove down with her heel right on Balthazar's scaly toes. Balthazar let out a gurgling squeal from the blow and tried to reach down and grab his aching foot, but Mia thrust up with the heel of her palm and struck Balthazar's chin so hard, the lower fangs plunged into the upper gums close to the nose.

Balthazar started to slump, but that gave Mia the perfect angle she needed to ram her knee into his crotch. The Mutant Warlord toppled back, landing in the bushes under one of the windows.

Mia stood there panting for several moments, absolutely fuming. She blinked and relaxed when she glanced to the side and saw Roxi and Britania with ear-to-ear grins. "…What! Well, when you get treated like a hostage for three years, it starts to get old!"

"Our cover's blown. We gotta get out of here," Roxi opened the car door and waited for Mia to seat herself before scampering around the front to the other side. Brianna prepared to get inside but halted when she heard rushing footsteps and saw Chaizar and Scar running towards her. She pulled out the revolver Roxi had lent her and took aim. Chaizar paused and tensed.

"Come now girl…you wouldn't really use that, would you? No…no…you're not the type to take a life, are you?" Chaizar raised both hands and took a step forward.

"You're right, I wouldn't kill a person even to save myself, but right now I can't guarantee that I wouldn't be shaking so hard from anxiety that I wouldn't accidentally squeeze the trigger." To demonstrate, Brit thumbed the hammer back and flexed her finger over the trigger. "You guys are really strong, but I don't think that'll protect you from a bullet going into your brains." Chaizar glanced from the barrel to Britania's determined glare then stepped back. Scar tried to sneak around the left side, but Roxi trained her Sharps on him. Brit scrambled into the back seat and closed the door. "Step on it, Mia!" With that, the car took off down the driveway.

"They won't get far," Chaizar turned around and waved at the air. The sky rippled and a single air barge descended towards the ground. Scar knelt down and scooped up the thoroughly traumatized Balthazar and sprang up onto the deck, depositing him by the bow.

"Here, I don't think I'll need this anymore," Brit said and handed the revolver back to Roxi. "I don't like the idea of having someone's life in my hands," she admitted. Roxi took the revolver and swung the cylinder out, then held it up to show Brit the empty chambers.

"Even I wouldn't give you a loaded weapon," she smirked. Brit looked stunned at first, then smiled and shook her head appreciatively. Mia glanced in the rear view mirror.

"We got a tail. A big one," she muttered upon seeing the pursuing air barge.

* * *

Red Thunder, Grey Fury, and Pegasus barely managed to keep ahead of the immense flock of gryphons chasing them over the city, even with their wing thrusters running at full. Pegasus flipped himself upside down and shot off two missiles, taking out a cluster of the little beasts. Tornath reined Grey Fury around and shot off his own barrage while flying backwards, but had to wheel around quickly. Pegasus twitched one ear when he heard an approaching screech and Razor Wing appeared in the air flying alongside him. Pegasus seemed to listen for a few moments then neighed at the other two Pegasi. Rona and Tornath gasped when all three air shields triggered. They looked down and spotted four armored figures standing in the street.

"RAKING RIME CLAW!" Piercing cold consumed almost half of the entire flock, and the bodies of affected gryphons plummeted to the street, frozen solid. Thin layers of frost peeled away from the outside of the air shields.

"My tuuuuurn!" Sehkmet cheered and drew all six swords. "SNAKE FANG STRIKE!"

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!"

"TYPHOON BLAST!"

"BOILING ACID RAIN!" The Thangiens hunkered down in their saddles and Razor Wing perched securely on Pegasus' back while a seething cloud of reddish mist erupted all around them. The air shields vibrated from the stress but held. When the mist finally evaporated, they looked behind them and saw the disintegrating bodies of the remaining flock fall to the street.

"Ahh…I love the smell of burning flesh in the morning…smells like-," Sehkmet began.

"Whoa, Tanya, you okay?" Sehkmet looked over his shoulder and saw Cye with one hand on Tanya's shoulder. The Lady Ronin had a hand over her brow and her eyes squeezed shut.

"I'm. Fine." she growled through her teeth and gulped slightly. Cale glanced from her to the corroded carcasses of the gryphons then back at her again.

"I don't believe it…you're blood shy, aren't you! Hah! And here I was ragging on Cye!"

"Shut it…" Tanya growled again.

"The important part is that the Pegasi are safe. There's no shame in-," Cye began.

"I SAID SHUT IT!" Tanya screamed and yelled in his face, causing him to recoil. She went back to her brooding. Sehkmet glanced from side to side then stepped towards her.

"If it's any comfort, ol' Mard had the same problem when she first started."

"Hnnn…"

* * *

Dygra grunted upon slamming back-first into a wall. She peeled herself out of the cavity and sprang away in time to avoid Kayura's thrust. "I must admit, I am somewhat impressed."

"I may not be under Badamon's influence anymore, but I've managed to retain some combat skill," Kayura stated and tensed for another spring.

"Even with the Ancient's Will guarding you, you cannot possibly hope to defeat me."

"Wow…I think your crown's squeezing your head tight if you think I had any intention of defeating you all on my own," Kayura snorted. Dygra gasped and looked over her shoulder at the black orb. Cracks formed in the surface and the darkness shredded like burning paper. Ryo let out a throaty cry and threw his arms to the sides, shrugging off the last of the shadow prison.

"Okay, that was a bit more alone time than I needed," Ryo commented. Dygra snarled and spread her claws, attempting to unleash another shadow field. Ryo crossed his blades and flames danced over the surface of his armor. The shadowy mist withered before it even touched him. Ryo crouched and sprang into the air after her. Dygra brought up her shadow swords to block, but gasped when Ryo began twirling his swords. Her blades shuddered and snapped in half.

"That technique! You've been training with those accursed Outworlders!"

"I may have picked up a few tricks. Oh, FYI, they're called _Thangiens_. You know? From the _planet_ Thanged? As in from across the stars?" Ryo spat as he landed on an antennae.

"I grow weary of your incessant meddling, Ronin Leader."

"Jeez she's thick," Ryo muttered and raised an eyebrow.

"You still don't understand, do you Dygra?" Kayura landed on a rooftop and held the golden sword infront of her, swiping her hand down over the blade. The Ancient armor vanished and the sword reverted into the Staff. "This is so much bigger than just us 'meddling in your plans for world conquest'. While Talpa had you cloistered in Ireland perfecting your dark arts, the Totalitary nearly wiped both Dynasty and Mortals from existence."

"And guess what? They're coming back, and since I doubt Talpa would care to pull his weight defending the Realm, I'd feel much safer taking you out of the picture," Ryo finished.

"Such confidence, and yet I fail to see how you expect to accomplish that with just your power alone," Dygra sniffed and hovered in the air.

"She's got a point…Kayura?"

"Way ahead of you, Ryo. RONIN WARRIORS! HEAR MY CALL!" Kayura stuck the Staff into the roof and knelt down. The rings began clanging and a beam of brilliant golden light shot up into the sky, visible for miles around.

* * *

Rowen writhed in the grip of the black cords and spotted the beacon. "Sorry, Ryo, but I'm a tad bit busy now!" he croaked. His armor creaked under the pressure.

"Come on! Pop, already! Sheesh, the metal horses broke like cheap porcelain but you're tougher than year-old jerky!" Black Hawk huffed. Whiteblaze and Danae managed to keep attacking soldiers at bay and Shannon poured her concentration into bolstering Rowen's armor. Blackblaze scampered up a tall shipping crane until he came about level with Black Hawk. He crouched and sprang into the air, soaring above the docks. Black Hawk barely noticed him out the corner of her eye and released her whip, as well as Rowen. She brought up her hands to try and hold Blackblaze back, but the Nether Tiger bore her towards the ground.

"Get _off_ of me, tuna-breath!" Black Hawk grunted and braced her right palm against Blackblaze's upper jaw as he tried to bite into her face. His teeth slowly sank into the soft flesh of her palm, and his body weighed down on the rest of her torso. She moved her left hand towards her right wing and plucked out a feather knife then plunged it into Blackblaze's right shoulder above the chest between the armor plates. The tiger bellowed from pain and Black Hawk swung her legs up and locked her talons around his shoulders then flung him away. She sprang to her feet and spread her wings, intending to impale Blackblaze with a hail of knives.

"As Roxi is fond of saying, PULL!" Rowen fired a salvo of arrows, forcing Black Hawk to take to the air once again. Shannon gasped when she saw Whiteblaze falter and collapse onto his left side. Blood stained the white fur by his right shoulder.

"Whiteblaze!" Shannon knelt beside him to inspect the wound, leaving Danae to fend off the attackers alone. Shannon scowled and glanced at Blackblaze curled up on the pavement. "You guys are still linked, aren't you? Here…I think I can fix that…" she placed her hand on the fur.

Rowen managed to bank in time to avoid the initial volley and retaliate with one of his own. Black Hawk folded her wings to shield herself then flung them wide open, swatting away the arrows. Instead of flying in all directions, however, the arrows fell downward and struck the remaining soldiers closing in on Danae. The Thangien blinked, startled by the turn of events. "…Ah nuts…" Black Hawk muttered and searched for her whip. She spotted it strewn over the pavement and dove to retrieve it with her hand outstretched.

All of a sudden, a white blur snatched up the whip. Black Hawk veered up and around and growled upon seeing a fully-healed Whiteblaze with her whip in his mouth. "Give that back, you stupid cat!" She launched a hail of knives, but Whiteblaze nimbly avoided them.

"Don't you know your position on the food chain!" Black Hawk gasped and looked down. "Cats eat birds!" Blackblaze reached up and grabbed her ankle and pulled her down, slamming her back-first against the pavement. He braced a paw on each of her wings and clamped his jaws over her left shoulder. Black Hawk screamed and tried beating at his nose to force him off, but Blackblaze's grip remained firm. She clenched her fist and Blackblaze's ears twitched when he heard the crackle of energy. Black Hawk blasted him in the chest with an energy sphere, sending him flying back. His chest plate had absorbed most of the impact, but wisps of smoke drifted up from singed fur. Black Hawk staggered to her feet and spread her wings.

"TUVO VEIQUA, VIEKE!" Danae screamed and drove her back with a flurry of sword strikes. While the Thangien kept the Demon Warrior occupied, Rowen landed beside the dazed Blackblaze and reached for the hilts of the Soul Swords.

"Sorry buddy, but I think Ryo needs these. Whiteblaze, get over here!"

* * *

Kento still knelt beside a recovering Sage, so he didn't see the beacon. Anubis and Dais, however, did, and their armors began glowing. Several blocks away where the other Ronin congregated with the Thangiens, Cye and Tanya responded by sending their own powers. Ryo remained neatly perched atop the antennae and waited for the incoming armor powers to converge. Dygra turned away from the eruption of light with disgust and brought her hand up to her face. She opened her eyes when she sensed the light subside and saw Ryo clad in Inferno II.

"You cannot harm me without suitable weapons, and I will not indulge your inane desire for a fight on equal footing," Dygra stated and remained hovering in the air with her arms folded.

"That's fine," Ryo shrugged. Dygra blinked when she saw the golden blades mounted on Ryo's back start glowing. Ryo's feet left the antennae as he steadily rose into the air. "I've always been a fan of taking the battle to the enemy!" he shouted and shot up towards her.

* * *

"I'm driving as fast as I can, but they're gaining! We won't make it to the lake house at this rate!" Mia fretted and kept glancing at the rear view mirror.

"I'll take care of that…they don't call this seat 'shotgun' for no reason," Roxi muttered and unbuckled her seatbelt then lowered the passenger side window.

"What the heck is that crazy mortal doing?" Chaizar narrowed his eyes when he spotted Roxi hauling her upper torso out of the window. She looped the seatbelt around her shoulders then hooked it into the door before seating herself on the lower edge of the open window. Chaizar's eyes widened when he saw her pull out her Sharps and aim for the hull.

"Does she really think she can damage the ship with that feeble weapon," Scar rumbled. The two of them squawked in terror when the first blast tore a hole through the front bow. A second shot sent splinters spraying onto the recovering Balthazar. "We are losing altitude!"

"We're here!" Mia steered into the worn driveway towards the lake house and parked. The women quickly exited the car and ran towards the pier just as the crippled vessel touched down nearby. The Mutant Warlords clambered out and stomped after the women. Roxi, Brit, and Mia came to a stop at the edge of the dock just before Chaizar, Balthazar, and Scar arrived.

"End of the line for you, mortals. It's sink or swim, now…" Chaizar chuckled.

"We didn't get to stay for the wet T-shirt contest at that party…" Balthazar giggled.

"A valiant effort, but for naught. Your courage will prove most tasty," Scar hissed.

"Last chance guys. It's not too late to turn good," Mia stated firmly.

"Hah! You think you can threaten us! What can you possibly do?" Chaizar snorted.

"Besides blasting you to bits?" Roxi loaded her Sharps but oddly enough kept it lowered. The Mutant Warlords stepped towards them but paused when they saw the water behind the dock bubbling. The surface rose up in a bulge and erupted to reveal a towering white-scaled entity. Their jaws dropped upon seeing the gaping maw and exposed killing fangs. Golden yellow eyes glowered down at them and the neck arched over the wooden planks.

"Hey!" "Oh come on!" "Watch it!" the girls protested when streams of water dribbled down on them from the scaly ridges of Raurgoth's neck. A rattling growl echoed from his maw.

"Tear these wankers a new asshole!" Brianna roared and pointed at the three warlords.

"AIIIIIEEEEEEE!" the three Mutant Warlords turned and fled into the forest. Raurgoth bellowed a challenge and hauled himself out of the lake, bringing his hands down onto the shore with shuddering thuds. His silver-scaled belly swept overhead as he trudged into the forest.

"Oh for gosh sakes Raurgoth! Just _eat_ them! You don't have to set the entire forest on fire!" Mia cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted, drawing startled glances from Roxi and Brit. Fire erupted from the White Dragon's mouth and he swiped at the fleeing warlords.

* * *

"WHIP LASH THRASH!" Instead of targeting the defenders, the cords dug into the concrete and tore the dock to pieces. Blackblaze scooped up Danae in his arms and leapt backwards away from the collapsing surface. Shannon managed to scramble back in time.

"Two can play that game. ARROW SHOCK WAVE!" Black Hawk gasped but failed to move in time and shrieked when the blast stripped her right wing clean of feathers. She slowly sagged towards the remains of the pavement and Rowen alighted on the ground near the Harbor. Spasms of pain wracked her body both from Blackblaze's bite and her maimed wing. She spotted her whip lying where the white tiger had discarded it after running off with the black one's swords. She tucked her wings and rolled towards it, grabbing it and lashing out, catching Rowen's ankles. "Wauugh!" Rowen yelped and landed on his back when Black Hawk yanked his legs out from under him. His armor scraped against the concrete as she pulled him towards her. His eyes widened and he called down his face mask when he saw her raise a feather sword.

"That won't help you when I aim for your neck!" Black Hawk clasped both hands around the hilt and prepared to plunge it into the Ronin's throat. One foot kept Rowen's right arm pinned to the ground and the other braced against his chest. He squirmed violently, trying to break free, but stopped and narrowed his eyes, seemingly in resignation.

Black Hawk slowly looked over her shoulder when she heard the sound of rapid footsteps coming up behind her. Her eyes widened when she saw Danae slash with her watered blade and Blackblaze hefting Shannon's claymore. Things happened too fast for her to react in time.

She threw her head back and screamed in agony when Danae's attack severed her left wing limb just above the joint and Blackblaze lopped off the right in similar fashion. She staggered away from Rowen and clamped her hands on her shoulders, wailing tearfully. Shannon helped Rowen stand and Danae and Blackblaze watched Black Hawk flounder on the pavement. Black Hawk screamed and screamed, reaching for the bloodied stumps with shaking hands.

"It's over, Jennifer. It's over," Shannon whispered sadly.

* * *

"Nnngh!" Ryo grunted upon absorbing an energy blast using the broad armguards of his armor. Dygra showed no signs of letting up the pressure and fired successive blasts.

"RYO!" Ryo glanced down and spotted Kayura pointing at something. Whiteblaze sprang out from the door of a roof exit carrying both Fervor Swords in his mouth. Ryo glanced back at Dygra and waited for her to shoot again before diving down towards the roof. Whiteblaze opened his jaws the same time Ryo swooped past and closed his hands about the hilts. He soared back up and held the swords at his sides.

"You seem intent on repeating the events of our last encounter, Ronin Leader. CRIMSON WHEEL!" Dygra lashed her index finger through the air and launched the deadly blade. Ryo briefly joined his swords at the pommel then separated them and swept forward.

"RAGE OF INFERNO!" Kayura and Whiteblaze watched the swelling eruption of flame with awe. Dygra expected the two super powers to collide, but Ryo began doing something curious. He lashed the blades through the air, similar to the way Azuro had done when using his Metra Wave. The flames parted and the lower half swept down then coiled up, wrapping about the spinning blade of reddish mist. Dygra's eyes widened when the upper half of the Fervor Flare collapsed onto the Crimson Wheel, consuming it entirely. The fire swirled back and rose higher, slowly taking the form of a mighty winged dragon with a gaping flaming maw.

"CRIMSON WHEEL!" Dygra launched two blades simultaneously, but Ryo swept his swords like a skilled conductor, guiding the Fervor Flare with graceful movements. The "head" of the dragon reared back and devoured one blade while the 'wings' wrapped around the other and extinguished it. The "neck" of the dragon shook from side to side and stretched up towards the bewildered Beast Warden. The "jaws" hinged wide open and let out a crackling bellow.

Dygra bared her teeth and poured all of her energy into unleashing multiple attacks, but in a rather ironic role reversal, the Fervor Flare fed off of her energy. Her final Crimson Wheel sped forth feebly, and the Fervor Flare consumed the modest offering all the same. By then the flaming avatar had grown large enough to be visible for miles around, even as far as the estate.

Dygra's arms hung at her sides, all of her might spent. She remained hovering in the air, not at all making an effort to flee. "My service to the Emperor…is complete…" she whispered and bowed her head, closing her eyes. The Fervor Flare consumed her entirely, wrapping around her body and leaving only fluttering ash when it finally subsided.

Kayura tilted her head back and watched Ryo come in for a landing. He touched down on the ground before relinquishing Inferno. Whiteblaze padded over and rubbed his head against Ryo's thigh. Ryo reached down and stroked the tiger's ears. "It's finally over…"

"You and I both know, it's only just begun," Kayura commented.

"Yeah…'wars of Rage, Wrath, and Woe'…I hope this one doesn't count," Ryo sighed sadly.

* * *

"It c-c-can't be over! It can't! The Dynasty is all I-I-I have left!" Black Hawk croaked.

"No, girl, you are wrong. It is all you left yourself," Blackblaze intoned.

"Not even to save her own life…" Shannon whispered mournfully.

"I am sorry, Shannon. I know you dearly hoped otherwise, but she has fallen too far to be saved," Danae stated and shook her head. Black Hawk flinched when she heard the rasp of string and looked to see Rowen nock an arrow.

"I'll try to make it as painless as possible," Rowen said softly. Black Hawk's lips curled in a sneer and she seethed with cold anger. Rowen slowly pulled back on the bowstring.

He almost dropped his bow and staggered back when suddenly a blinding light erupted in the sky. Shannon shielded her face with her jacket and Blackblaze clamped a paw over his eyes. Danae turned away and Rowen raised his arm. They heard a strange sound, like a rattling hum combined with a high-pitched whine. As quickly as it had happened, the event passed and when they opened their eyes, Black Hawk had vanished.

"What the _heck_ was that?" Shannon exclaimed.

"I dunno…you figure Talpa decided to bail out Black Hawk's feathered butt?"

"No…it was not Dynasty…I smelled something…something strange…" Blackblaze's nose twitched and he flattened his ears. "Almost…like Pegasi wings…only…_fouler_…" No one seemed to notice the distressed expression on Danae's face as she turned around and brushed strands of hair behind her ear. Her gaze darted around before she composed herself.

"Whatever it was…I guess that's the last we'll ever see of ol' Jennifer," Rowen shrugged.

"Yeah…I guess it is…" Shannon muttered and frowned.

* * *

"Truly a dark day indeed. The Ronin have dealt us a heavy blow," Duratin lamented.

"On the contrary, Admiral. Dygra and her minions, while very powerful, ultimately served their purpose. I now know the full extent of the resources and allies the Ronin have at their disposal. We will recoup our losses, and when next we battle I will be sufficiently prepared."

"Emperor Talpa, you have a visitor," Duratir entered the throne room and bowed. Rather than remain in his seat, Talpa stood up and walked forth to personally greet the newcomers: a fearsome warrior clad in gold armor with red detailing on the shoulders, knees, and helm, accompanied by five figures resembling Dynasty Soldiers with green armor and silver crests.

"Lord Tchnetun, I greet you!" Talpa rumbled.

"Well met, Emperor Talpa! I received your missive, and while I cannot say I am surprised by Lord Mabu's stubbornness, I relish the opportunity to employ my skills for your glory."

"I trust your studies into the arts of the Mortal Realm have progressed smoothly?"

"Indeed! General Duratir and Admiral Duratin, I am told individuals possessing advanced machinery ravaged your forces. What would you say if I offered you the chance to match their might and turn their own weaponry against them?" The brothers glanced at each other.

"We are listening," Duratir said tightly.

* * *

"What is this you have brought onboard, my friend?"

"One of Ouagli's minions. The Morindae was about to execute her, so I figured she would serve a better purpose being studied."

"If by 'Ouagli' you mean Talpa, and by 'Morindae' you mean Ronin Warrior, than I might have an idea of who this is…" Two towering shadowed figures parted to let the human pass. "Ahh…yes, I recognize her. Jennifer Carole, AKA Black Hawk. Naughty schoolgirl gone worse," Lazro Cochran clasped his hands behind his back and leaned close to the transparent wall of the liquid-filled tank. Bubbles fluttered up from the slumbering figure's mouth, and a plain-looking computer panel built into the metal base of the tank beeped.

"She can hear you perfectly, by the way."

"Can she now? Hey Jenny! Listen up!" Lazro rapped his knuckle against the tank. "If you still want to get back at the Ronin Warriors, you might consider switching employers like I did."

"You do not think she poses a risk to the ship?"

"Naw. She's fanatically loyal to Talpa, but I'll bet she'll prove useful somewhere down the line…that's some rather serious damage to the wing appendages, though. Might have to compensate with cybernetic prosthetics…You just rest up for a good while, okay Jenny?"

Black Hawk floated peacefully in the bright blue liquid, and while her face looked tranquil and relaxed, her thoughts roiled with anger. _I will hunt…again…_


	18. Return of the Foe

Return of the Foe

By Mardrena

"Jonathan! I'm so glad to see you!" No sooner did he round the corner of the gift shop did Michelle throw her arms around his neck and hug him tight before yawning softly. "Sorry. It was late when we ported, but I figured it'd be day here."

"I suppose it's a good way to bypass jetlag. I see you brought some of your…foreigner friends…" he said tightly when he saw Koma come up behind Michelle followed by the English man named Cye and an unidentified young woman with long black hair and a gold staff.

"Ahhh…Jonathan Proud Wolf…it's been a while. Tell me; how's the arm?" Koma grinned.

"…Functioning…" he partially growled.

"Come on you two. Behave," Cye scolded. He wore the same gaudy western outfit he'd worn last time and Koma wore his jeans and black leather jacket.

"I will if he does," Koma muttered and looked to the side when he saw two forms heading towards them. Michelle giggled excitedly and knelt down to greet Mikita, who licked her face merrily. Itchyatukomi alighted on Michelle's shoulder and picked at her hair with his beak.

"I'm sorry, but we haven't met before. I am simply known as Kayura," the woman held out her hand in greeting. Instead of returning it, he kept staring at the ornamented gold staff. The woman fidgeted, feeling uneasy, then withdrew her hand.

"She's a monk from Japan. I asked her to come with us so she could meet Walking Cloud."

"I see…he's at his dwelling at the moment, if you wanted to head over there right away."

"Well we could eat something real quick. We ported so early; it wasn't even time for breakfast. I got your letter last week. So you signed on with Professor O'Connor's team?"

"Yes. I must admit she's not at all half bad…and I've been able to provide her with some much-needed insight regarding her projects…"

"Another relative of Shannon's?" Cye asked as they took off walking.

"The youngest, I'm told. Charles refers to her as the…'nerd' of the family," Koma replied.

"Dad, are you sure it's okay for all three of you to be over here for so long? You don't think the others would need your help in case of an attack?" Michelle asked over her shoulder.

"For the moment, there is a lull in our battles. The Dynasty's withdrawn from the Realm completely, so we shouldn't have any trouble for a long while."

* * *

"Property damage." The small TV displayed images of broken streets and shattered buildings. "Job losses." Images showed of a collapsed skyscraper then of its many displaced tenants. "Emotional stress!" Images showed of city works departments trying to restore order to the city thrown into disarray. "'Angels in Armor'? PAH! More like a pack of self-righteous vigilantes!"

The TV showed a short chubby elderly man with graying hair barely clinging to his temples and a round protruding nose. "Are we going to stand idly by while these delinquents wreak havoc in our city? Are we going to buy into that _hogwash_ that _crackpot_ Mia Koji tried to spoon-feed the UN? Are we going to cower in our homes while they come crashing down around us every time these 'Ronin Warriors' embark on their campaign to fight 'evil forces'? NO, I say!"

"How can they let guys like this even _talk_?" Sehkmet snorted and set down the pot of warm tea on the break room table. Cale sat at one end and kept any comments to himself, being he busied himself with devouring a rather thick sandwich.

"If this was Thanged, you could challenge him for the right to even exist," Dais sighed.

"Unfortunately it isn't…" Sehkmet chomped down on a granola bar and continued to watch the press-conference being showed on the news channel. He couldn't help but giggle softly each time the politician brought his meaty hand against the podium each time he yelled.

All of a sudden the politician gasped and the camera trained on him swerved to catch glimpses of bulky figures clad in bluish-gray armor and wielding spears and scythes breaking through the walls of the auditorium and spilling into the populated rows of seats.

"Oh look…the Dynasty is attacking," Dais said in a deadpan tone. Cale kept munching.

"Yeah… we should probably go save the people," Sehkmet said in an even deader pan.

"Yeah…we should…" Dais calmly poured himself a mug of hot tea and took a long sip.

* * *

"You should be safe out here," Sage said after setting the shuddering politician on the sidewalk and stood up to leave. The man gasped and grabbed Sage's hand, tugging hard.

"Wait! Y-y-you can't leave me here! What if those people come after me! I have a lot of influence on the city board, I could be their target!" the man pleaded.

"Um…" Sage bit his lip and glanced around. "Blackblaze! Come over here, please? Here, you keep an eye on this gentleman. I'm going back inside to help rescue the other civilians." Sage had to peel the man's fingers off of his arm and sprang towards the auditorium entrance. The politician's eyes widened when he saw a _black_-furred tiger pad over to him. It stared at him calmly with golden eyes and wore what looked like ornate steel armor. The tiger sat down on the sidewalk and stared at the man. Its tongue slid out of its mouth and wiped over its nose.

"…W-W-Why are you looking at me like that?" the politician blinked nervously.

"Come now, Ronin Leader. Surely you wish to save these innocents," a Dynasty Soldier taunted. Rowen nocked an arrow and took aim from where he hovered close to the ceiling lights. Another soldier yanked a female reporter close and pointed its spear at her throat. Rowen scowled and lowered his bow. "I thought the Ronin Warriors pledged to protect mankind, no matter the cost." While the soldiers continued taunting, Kento and Tanya stood by in the rows further back and waited for an opening. Sage arrived to see over a dozen people being held hostage. One of the soldiers noticed him and jerked the skinny cameraman around warningly.

Tanya blinked when she heard a metallic click and glanced at Ryo. Her eyes widened when she saw him joining his swords together. Rowen gasped in disbelief and Kento's jaw dropped. "FLARE!" The soldiers tensed, but almost looked smug despite their expressionless helmets. "UP!" Sage sprang towards Ryo, shouting a protest. "NOW!" Ryo swung the double blade forward. The civilians cringed in fear, and the soldiers made no effort to escape.

Instead of smashing into the building, the flare split into multiple streams that arced up and down towards the soldiers. The reporter flinched when one arc severed the arm of her captor and another coiled _around_ her and pierced its side. Smoke billowed out of the severed arm and the spear clattered to the floor. Other soldiers suffered similar fates as the streams sought them out despite their human shields. The skinny cameraman clamped his hands over his head and leaned away as a tendril of fire plowed straight through the face of the soldier gripping him.

Where earlier nearly fifty soldiers had stood defiantly, now only a scant handful remained. Those few survivors tried running away down the aisle but halted and staggered back when a shadow rose over them. "Here, take a seat!" Kento slammed the seat row down on top of them, crushing them flat. "Several, in fact," Kento snorted and slapped his hands together. The flames subsided, but fire still licked away at the padded cushions of seats close to the stage. A shrill alarm bell sounded and the overhead sprinklers triggered, showering the auditorium with a fine mist. The un-harmed civilians squawked in protest and scrambled for the emergency exit. Ryo disengaged his swords and sheathed them. Water from the sprinklers glistened on his armor.

"Hot damn, Ryo! How'd you do that?" Sage exclaimed and trudged over.

"Well, that whiny politician guy got me thinking; how well can we control our ultimate moves? I've noticed in the past how we're sometimes able to guide our powers as long as we focus on our real target. If we can perfect our control, we can avoid a lot of collateral damage."

"Hey! Turn that thing off!" Rowen snapped at the cameraman lingering by the stage and took aim. The cameraman squealed and scampered for the exit.

The politician looked up when he saw the five armored warriors walk down the steps. "Oh! Bless your soul, young man! You saved my life! Thank you! Thank you!" Ryo grimaced as the man scrambled forward on his knees and grabbed his hand. "I don't know what to say!" the man blubbered and pressed his forehead against the back of Ryo's armored hand. "For awhile, I was afraid this cat was going to eat me!" the man glanced at the black tiger.

"Blackblaze?" Rowen looked at Blackblaze, who swished his tail idly and twitched his whiskers. " Naw…he wouldn't eat you. He'd just devour your soul," Rowen grinned.

"Mmm….soul…" Kento hummed and rubbed a hand over his stomach. The politician gave them nervous looks, his eyes twitching slightly.

"No offense, but harboring that kind of hostility towards us just makes you look more appetizing to the Dynasty. You're like a gourmet meal to them," Sage commented.

"Look, I understand how upset people can get after there's been a battle, but it's not something we go around doing on purpose. Sometimes it just can't be helped, and, well…people come first. But, you've given us a lot to think about, so in the future we'll try to be more considerate of the city and avoid causing so much property damage," Ryo explained gently.

"Yeah! So keep that in mind you slimy little lard ball! Unless next time the Dynasty comes calling, you actually _want_ to spend censored eternity in the censored void!" Tanya snarled and grabbed the man's shirt, nearly pulling him off the sidewalk. The man shuddered fearfully then pelted down the sidewalk the moment Tanya released him.

"Wow…that was…intense…You okay, sis?" Ryo asked. Tanya huffed and folded her arms.

"It just makes my blood _boil_ to hear people have that kind of petty attitude! You have one life to live; you'd think it'd be better spent worrying about better things than material shit. Mard didn't have to put up with any of _this_ bullshit back in her day!"

"You're right on one hand, Tanya, but on the other, for a lot of people their lives do revolve around their homes or businesses," Sage argued.

"I swear, next time there's an attack, I got half a mind to _let_ these people get captured…"

"But we won't do that," Ryo chided. Tanya began bobbing her head from side to side.

"Because we're the good guys. Yeah yeah, I know. Ryo, you've been doing this a lot longer than I have. I don't know how you guys put up with this in the past."

"Well…to be honest, except for Mia and Yulie, we never really had much contact with civilians," Ryo rubbed the back of his helmet and shrugged.

"On account of 99% of the populace getting sucked into the void," Kento added.

"Hey, did we miss the fun?" The younger Ronin looked to the side and saw Sehkmet, Dais, and Cale land on the sidewalk wearing sub-armor.

"Well, look who's late to the party," Ryo chuckled.

"I thought you guys were all big on responding to a battle quickly," Rowen snickered.

"What's wrong? Losing your thirst for battle?" Sage teased.

"Hey, we were on the clock! Our supervisor keeps a close eye on us," Sehkmet argued.

"Yeah. It's not like we can just take off at a moment's notice in the middle of a shift. We happened to be very busy at work," Dais added. All of a sudden Cale let out a shuddering belch. He pitched forward slightly and clamped a hand over his chest then cleared his throat.

"Whew! Excuse me! No idea where that came from," he wheezed and thumped his fist against his chest, waving his other hand. Ryo and the others powered down to sub-armor.

"So what's the deal with these small attacks? I thought Talpa ditched this realm," Sage asked.

"For the moment, yah. I bet he's trying to remind us he's still in the game," Rowen theorized.

"Making sure people's fear doesn't go past the expiration date, I guess," Kento muttered.

"Those are all very interesting theories, and I imagine they might be true." The Ronin turned to face a lone figure approaching them from the other side of the street. "But the forces you encountered did not belong to the 'Dynasty'. They were…puppets…constructs of mine I created to…well to test your abilities…" Ryo raised an eyebrow upon seeing the lanky figure wrapped in plain brown robes. He wore loose brown trousers as well as worn leather boots. The stranger kept his left hand behind his back and a large cowl covered the entirety of the left side of his face. Stringy brown hair poked out from under the cowl and he regarded Tanya with a green eye.

Tanya took a few steps backward until she had a fair line of sight on the newcomer. She cocked her head to one side and narrowed her eyes. "…Marcar?" she asked warily.

"I'm so happy to have finally found you. It's been so many years…" Ryo turned around and watched the stranger as he walked right past him and over to Tanya. He reached out with his right hand and gently grabbed Tanya's armored palm and turned it over. "I see not only has your fighting prowess improved, but that you've blossomed into such a beautiful young woman."

"Tanya blossomed?" Cale asked and raised both eyebrows.

"If she did, the petals fell off right afterward." Dais quipped. All of a sudden Sehkmet broke out laughing hysterically and doubled over, slapping his thigh repeatedly.

"HAAAAHHH! Good one!" he crowed and hi-fived Dais. Tanya glared at the Elders and the stranger named Marcar turned sideways slightly, the visible half of his face wrinkling in irritation.

"See that? You shouldn't have to put up with these…these _clowns_, these fools. You deserve so much more! And you're capable of even greater things."

"My cheeks hurt _so_ much…" Sehkmet wheezed as he continued guffawing and he wiped tears from the corners of his eyes. Tanya glared at him again then returned her attention to the robed young man. She regarded the stranger with narrowed eyes and a neutral expression.

"I've mastered the use of my new powers, and if you were to join me, I'm certain that together we could-" Marcar stooped down as if to kiss the back of her hand.

Tanya slapped his hand away abruptly and stepped back. "Screw off, Marcar!" Ryo's eyes widened upon seeing the outburst. "I was too young to understand back then, but I figured out the truth on my own eventually. You weren't hurt at all. You just faked it so you could steal Sulseros' power for yourself. Whatever reason you come crawling out of the woodwork, you can just forget it. I've washed myself of you," Tanya growled and turned around, walking away.

"Oooh hooo…buuuurn," Kento snickered under his breath. Sage threw a glance at Marcar and shrugged sympathetically. Ryo glanced from him to the quickly departing Tanya then turned to walk after her. Marcar remained where he stood with his left hand concealed behind his back and raised his right hand slightly. He bit his lip and began drumming his fingers against his thumb.

"Hmm…I…anticipated you might feel…well…well less than receptive…perfectly understandable. I suppose it's to be…expected, seeing as how I didn't inform you of my plan from the get go. Very well…you leave me no choice but to…well…_take_…your power." Marcar's lips turned up in a slight grin and he took a step forward.

"What!" Tanya and Ryo shouted almost simultaneously and whirled around.

"Hey! No one talks to my sister like that!" Ryo stalked over to the robed man. Marcar blinked and raised his right hand to his mouth to hide a grin, looking amused by the statement. In a rare occasion Tanya kept her distance and allowed Ryo to act on her behalf. She glared at Marcar, who struggled to suppress laughter. "You cross my sister and you cross me, and you cross me, you cross all of us." The other guys and the Elders threw Marcar warning glares. "So I suggest you turn around and leave Tanya alone," Ryo growled and struck Marcar in the shoulder with the heel of his palm, shoving the robed man back a step. "Don't go acting like you can make snarky threats behind her back." Ryo shoved Marcar again, but the man didn't seem angry.

One moment Tanya glared at Marcar with cold rage. The next she watched in shock as Marcar thrust the palm of his left hand forward against Ryo's chest and sent the Ronin Leader tumbling clear across the block. Ryo cried out when the back of his head struck a solid wall and he slumped onto the sidewalk, unconscious. Tanya's eyes widened in horror at the sight and she glanced back at Marcar, who held his disfigured left hand outstretched.

It resembled the curved talons of a raptor, with two long fingers and a vestigial thumb all covered with yellow-green scales and tipped with thick black talons. Marcar tilted his head up just so that his cowl shifted to the side and exposed the equally deformed left half of his face. A large yellow eye with a slit-shaped pupil peered out from under scaly folds of flesh and ridges. Mottled green scales covered the skin running from the middle of the forehead down the left side of the nose and the entirety of the left cheek and jaw.

"RYO!" Rowen and Kento bolted to Ryo's side followed by Sage. The Elders took up a defensive position between Tanya and Marcar.

"Being self-employed is so rewarding. You decide what to do, when to do it, and how to do it. You can do whatever you want, and you can have whatever you want, and I want _you_ Tanya Sanada! I tried to be polite and ask first, but you insist on being willful. I'll give you an hour to make your choice to join me by my side, and I won't take 'no' for an answer!"

"Here's your answer right here, you gecko geek!" Cale and Sehkmet darted forward and punched at Marcar, but he dodged easily and sprang up to the auditorium roof.

"Make your choice, Tanya, unless you want others to suffer your 'brother's' fate," Marcar warned and leapt away along the rooftops.

Tanya stood there eyes wide and arms limp in disbelief. She looked over her shoulder when she heard the guys calling Ryo's name. She ran over and peered over Sage's shoulder.

"Pretty severe concussion…" Sage hummed in disappointment then reached down and placed one hand on Ryo's forehead and slipped the other under his neck. "I'll see what I can do," he said before closing his eyes. Tanya took a step back and began rubbing her arms with her palms.

"Sooo…care to fill us in on what all _that_ was about?" Cale asked and turned to face Tanya. The Lady Ronin didn't respond and her gaze darted about wildly. Rowen frowned when he saw the almost panicked look in her eyes. Tanya _never_ looked panicked… "I think we're entitled to some answers, seeing as how you're apparently on a first-name basis with this guy." Tanya either ignored him or remained lost in her own worries. "Hey! Answer the damn question, girl! You're not going to keep any secrets from us this time, especially since you almost screwed us over in Scotland!" Cale grabbed Tanya's arm and shook her roughly. She glanced at him, startled.

"Ease off of her, Cale. Can't you see she's upset enough as it is?" Sehkmet argued. Sure enough, in any other situation, Cale would've found Tanya's knee firmly planted in his crotch.

"Pphhegh," Cale snorted in disgust and released Tanya then walked away.

"He was a friend. Okay? I thought he was someone I could trust." Tanya looked up at the others and narrowed her eyes. "You might've noticed; I'm not exactly the friendliest person! Well, there's a reason why!" Tanya folded her arms over her chest and rubbed her shoulders again. "It happened my first year of training…after the fire…after I received Typhoon…

* * *

"Hee hee! Whooo!" a young girl with black hair bound into two ponytails and cheerful bronze-brown eyes whooped as she sprang through the high branches of the canopy.

"I have my doubts about such antics being productive in battle," a white-haired man wearing blue robes chuckled richly. A wide conical hat sheltered his eyes entirely.

"Who cares about it being productive? It's fun!" the girl laughed and leapt high into the air, breaching the canopy before arcing back down to land neatly on another branch. She wore form-fitting white armor reinforced with thick pink plates on the chest, forearms, shins, and waist.

"Perhaps, but such exertions can quickly leave you without any energy for real combat."

"Well, I'll just have to beat the bad guys with what I got left," the girl stated matter-of-factly before embarking on another series of what she termed 'high-leaps'. The robed man smiled.

"Far be it for me to argue with the logic of youth. I must admit, I am impressed at how well you have taken to the armor…and how well the armor has taken to you. I will wait for you at camp. Continue with your…'training'," the man said and walked away.

"Okay Ancient!" the girl called and headed the opposite direction. _This is so awesome! I feel like I can fly!_ She crouched down on a branch and poured all her strength into making a single magnificent leap. Leaves spewed in all directions as she rose into the air high above the forest. She glanced about, marveling at the view until gravity began to reassert control. She plunged with arms outstretched to grab another branch and swing back up.

She didn't count on said branch snapping abruptly and sending her into a tumble, banging rather painfully against other branches on the way down. "Ow! Ow! Ow!" she cried in protest before finally landing on the ground on her backside. "Oww…okay…maybe he's got a point…huh?" She blinked when she thought she heard a soft grinding crunch. She glanced down when she felt a crack form in the ground underneath her palm. "Uh oh…wauuugh!" She futilely tried to spring away from the quickly-collapsing sinkhole, but the ground she tried to secure her grip on crumbled on touch. "AAAACK!" she squawked and shielded her head with her arms. "OOF!" She grunted upon landing on a rocky floor in the deep dark.

"Great…" she grumbled and glanced up at the ragged opening. She crouched and sprang onto the walls, but the soft earth fell away and sent her tumbling straight down. "Aww maan…huh?" she blinked when she thought she spotted a light towards the side. She turned around and watched cautiously as what looked like an oil lantern bobbed in her direction from a side tunnel. Her breath froze in her throat and she recoiled slightly upon seeing the scaly clawed hand gripping the lantern and the partially scale-covered face of the young man it belonged to. The robed man raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued by the young girl.

_He called himself Marcar and said he was a centuries-old sorcerer. I asked him why he looked so weird, and he said when he was young, one of his spells backfired. He didn't mind, since it gave him a better understanding of magic. He was running an errand for his master and offered to guide me back to the surface, but when he saw my armor, he asked if I had any powers. I told him I was the Lady Ronin. Back then, I felt comfortable talking to him…_

_Then he started to tell me this sob story about how he'd been enslaved. Sulseros was a powerful mage from ancient Babylon who sealed his spirit in a stone statue to cheat death and was grooming Marcar to become his new host body. Marcar worried if that happened, his own soul would be destroyed. He begged me to help him…I had my doubts, since I'd never used the Armor of Typhoon in actual combat before, but he said he could use his magic to support me._

"Stand fast! He is faltering!" Marcar cried and fired energy bolts from his clawed hand.

"Here goes! Ty!" she joined the swords together and began spinning them. "Phoon!"

The cavern began shuddering and the girl dropped the swords and clamped her armored palms over her ears. A grating booming voice spoke in a strange language and emanated from the elaborately carved statue of a regal human figure seated in a throne. The voice continued speaking, taunting the two. The girl reached for her fallen swords, but the statue shouted at her angrily and stalactites broke loose and fell towards her.

"Tanya! Watch out!" Marcar shoved her to the side and tried to raise a shield against the collapse. More rock broke loose and buried him entirely.

"Marcar! No!" Tanya shrieked and glared at the statue. The entrapped wizard laughed richly and a pulsing blue energy orb appeared in the air and shot at her. Tanya quickly drew out the two semi-circular blades from under her sword scabbards and joined them together then pushed them forward. She managed to deflect the orb and send it back at the statue, cracking the base. Sulseros bellowed in rage in his ancient language and the eyes of the statue glowed.

Tanya used the opportunity to grab her swords and finish what she started. "TYPHOON BLAST!" she unleashed her armor's fury point blank at the statue. Sulseros howled in agony as the unbelievably powerful winds began tearing chips off of his body, stripping it away bit by bit. The mage shouted something before eventually shattering completely. The might of Typhoon didn't stop there and erupted through the cavern all the way to the surface.

"Marcar! Marcar, you okay?" Tanya parted her swords and sheathed them and rushed over to the rock pile. She grunted from the effort of shoving aside chunks of rock. Instead of seeing the young sorcerer cowering under his shield, she saw empty floor. She reached down and patted the floor with her palm. Her armored fingers only brushed dust and rock aside. Tanya scooted away from the rock pile and pulled off her helmet. Her eyes were wide with uncertainty.

_I never did find his body. I left that place and never looked back, and it took me a long time to wrap my head around what could've happened. Eventually I figured it out; I was just a pawn to Marcar. He didn't just want his freedom; he wanted his master's power. He used his magic to teleport behind Sulseros' statue and drained him of his energy. I never would've defeated him on my own otherwise, even with my Typhoon Blast._

* * *

"So why's he after you then? I thought he'd want to get the Armor of Gea now that we can control it," Rowen asked. Tanya bit her lip and rubbed the side of her head.

"You know how I've been able to use my Typhoon Blast to combine attacks? I can mix and match powers to create new effects and amplify their base strength? That's what he's after. Typhoon's the only armor that can do that, and he thinks if he has my armor, he'll become even stronger. I think that's why he didn't come after me when I was still by myself training. He needed time to get used to Sulseros' power, and with me he can speed up the process. You saw what he did to Ryo, and that was just a warning… Ryo almost died because of me…_again_!" Tanya hunched her shoulders. Dais walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, Tanya, none of this is your fault. Guys like Marcar, they know how to read people, and in you he saw a lonely little girl who desperately wanted a friend and he played off of that."

"Yeah…because _I_ let him…" Tanya muttered bitterly.

"I didn't say-"

"So what do we do when this creep comes back?" Kento asked abruptly.

"Simple: we teach him not to mess with the Ronin Warriors. Remember, we're a team, and like Ryo said; what affects one affects us all." Tanya opened her mouth to protest, but Rowen continued talking. "We're doing this as much for him as we are for Tanya, and we'll make Marcar pay for blindsiding Ryo like that…speaking of Ryo, how is he?" Rowen asked.

"I managed to repair most of the internal damage, but he shouldn't be moved too much, not even with teleport," Sage stated and stood up after setting Ryo down gently.

"Well we can't just leave him here, and we can't stay either if Marcar comes back…"

"I'll stay with him. I can use my power to hide the both of us," Dais volunteered.

"Okay. The rest of us should book it and get to an evacuated area."

"Please not our worksite…not that I object to more hours, but still," Cale whined.

"Well, remember what Ryo did earlier in the auditorium? Just need to exert some control," Sage brought up and the six Ronin along with Blackblaze took off running. Dais began poking his fingers into the air and muttering under his breath. The air seemed to ripple and within seconds the sidewalk and wall appeared completely empty.

* * *

A hand shot up and grabbed the wrist of the young man leaning over the bed. Jonathan hissed and flinched. "Aah! Sorry! I didn't mean to startle you Ko-uh, Anubis," he whispered. "Listen, I wanted to show you something at the site I've been working at," he explained while Anubis sat up and swung his legs out from the covers.

"Rather late for a guided tour, don't you think?" Anubis scowled warily.

"It's the only time it'd be unguarded, and I believe the subject matter concerns you 'Ronin Warriors'. You should wake your Anglo friend too. He'd probably be interested in seeing it."

"I heard that." Jonathan looked over his shoulder at Cye, who propped himself up on his elbow looking slightly annoyed.

* * *

The four Incarnations voiced their eagerness for battle after materializing on the exposed ruins of a collapsed skyscraper. "Since this guy's a spell-caster, the three of us should stick to ranged attacks. Cale, Sage, and Sehk, get ready to tackle him when you get the chance. Razor Wing and the others can pick away at his defenses. He only brought Ryo down because he caught him off-guard. This time, we'll be ready," Rowen declared and changed to Eagle sub-armor. Tanya and Kento likewise transformed into their respective AnimArmor sub-armors.

"Oh I assure you, Ronin Warrior." They looked up and saw Marcar standing on a roof ledge overlooking a steel framework. "Even if you were fully prepared-which you're not-you couldn't possibly hope to defeat me." Marcar then looked directly at Tanya, who wore Jaguar sub-armor. "I see you remain unconvinced…I'll just have to make a more compelling argument."

"censored off, Dino Dick!" Tanya screamed and opened fire. Kento and Rowen fired blasts from their clawnchers as well. A translucent bubble of bluish energy formed around Marcar and repelled any attack. Sehkmet, Sage, and Cale sprang forth and landed flurries of punches and kicks against the shield. Marcar brought his clawed hand up and waved it over his mouth, yawning casually. Iguadalupen raked his tail spines against the shield, and Razor Wing clawed at it with his talons. Boulderdash struck with his skull and Jaguaradina tried sinking her fangs into the barrier. Blackblaze slashed with his claws. The attacks continued, all to no avail.

"I absorbed power from the chief advisor of Hammurabi himself. What do you _think_ I'm capable of?" Marcar shouted and made a twitching motion with his fingers and jerked his hands up suddenly. The steel beams of the framework began shuddering and peeled away from the main structure. Metal turned molten in seconds and began coiling and arcing in all directions. Cale, Sage, and Sehkmet cried out in protest when cooled metal strips wrapped around their waists and suspended them high into the air. Sage tried using the light blades of his Iguana sub-armor to slice through the metal, but smaller strips wound up and bound his arm tight.

Blackblaze sprang from side to side and avoided the first strips and pounced at Marcar. More metal bands shot forth and caught the Nether Tiger by the chest and forearms. Blackblaze snarled angrily and tried biting the strips. The four Incarnations rushed to aid the entrapped Ronin, but Marcar dismissed his shield and made a flicking motion, sending a pulse of energy radiating out over the rooftop. Boulderdash, Razor Wing, Iguadalupen, and Jaguaradina froze suddenly and collapsed to the ground completely rigid.

Only Kento, Rowen, and Tanya remained free because they fought at range. Marcar turned his attention to them and pushed his deformed palm at the ground beneath them. More strips of warped metal rushed towards them and plowed into the pavement. Rowen took to the air while Kento and Tanya sprang up to the rooftop to evade, but the strips arced after them.

"You really should ask yourself Tanya; whether you truly belong with these weaklings. You depend on them to shield you from me, yet they can scarcely defend themselves. Seems to me they treat you more like a crutch than as a teammate and friend," Marcar taunted and directed more metallic tendrils after Kento and Tanya. "But I know you're stronger than them all. Why let them hold you back? Why continue playing your part when you can write your own?"

"Gaaah!" Tanya squawked when the strips plunged through the walls of the building and caused the roof to start cracking. She staggered back towards the edge, but before she had a chance to jump to safety, the roof gave way beneath her. She started to fall, but Kento lunged over the edge and caught her by her wrist. He started to pull her back onto the roof.

Kento's eyes widened when Tanya aimed her clawnchers at him. The triple-barrels began spinning before unleashing a hail of energy bullets that passed within inches of Kento's neck. He looked over his shoulder just in time to see the spray sever a tendril that nearly impaled him from behind. Neither had time to express their gratitude as another tendril tore through the structure below them and sent the entire edge spilling towards the street.

"I got ya!" Rowen cried and dove down, grabbing Kento who still held Tanya's wrist. He lowered them both safely to the sidewalk below. They looked up at the massive branched metal structure that held Blackblaze, Sage, Sehkmet, and Cale captive.

"Forget about us! Get Tanya away from here!" Sage shouted.

"Come on!" Rowen ordered and pulled a reluctant Tanya away with Kento following close behind. Marcar leapt onto the building overlooking the street and watched them run.

"I'm starting to wonder, Tanya Sanada, whether _they're_ the ones holding you back…"

* * *

"We…totally…should've…armored…up…" Kento panted heavily and braced his palm against a wall. They'd come to a stop dozens of blocks away to catch their breath.

"I doubt it would've made any difference. For all we know, we would've ended up causing more harm to the city than to him," Rowen argued and looked at Tanya, who stood off to the side with a hand covering her eyes. "This guy have any weaknesses?"

"How the censored should I know? I never fought him toe to toe before!"

"Hey, we're just trying to help here! No need to get mad at us!" Rowen snapped.

"I guess this explains why you're so hostile with guys," Kento muttered. Tanya glared at him, and Rowen looked annoyed by the callous remark, but Tanya couldn't berate him for honesty. She closed her eyes and shook her head then let out a dismayed sigh.

"I destroyed Sulseros with my Typhoon Blast, but by then he was already weakened by Marcar. I bet we could fry him with Inferno, but without Ryo…"

"What about our powers? Maybe you can combine Rowen's Arrow Shock Wave and my Iron Rock Crusher and we can pulverize this guy," Kento suggested.

"We could try…but we'd have to catch him with his shield down. That thing was practically impenetrable. Not even the Incarnations could crack it, and they're spirits."

"Marcar's after you and you alone…what if you pretended to surrender? Get close enough to him to surprise him while Kento and I unload on him?" Tanya nodded in silent agreement but turned around when a slight tremor began coursing through the pavement.

"That's not me!" Kento stammered.

"Watch out!" Rowen shouted and staggered back when the pavement split in half. Multiple thick spikes of metal rose up between Tanya and Kento and Rowen. The spikes curled inwards, and Tanya had the unnerving sensation of being in a massive cage. She looked to either side of the street and saw more spikes erupting from the ground, encompassing several blocks.

"Nnnngh!" Tanya grunted as she tried to squeeze between the spikes, but couldn't fit more than her arm and shoulder. She backed away then sprang up, trying to climb high enough to slip through the wider gaps. Her metal-covered hands found no purchase on the blackened steel and she slid back onto the pavement. She scowled angrily, remembering all too well when she'd tried climbing out of that sinkhole only for the earth to keep crumbling under her touch.

"Stay put, Tanya. I can get a clear line of sight on you. I'll armor up and port over then port you back in no time," Rowen said and shifted back to Ronin sub-armor. Tanya turned around and stepped away from the spikes, looking down the street. "No! Tanya, no! No! I _know_ that look on your face!" Rowen shouted and pointed at her. "There's no way we're letting you run off to fight that nut-bar lizard on your own! We're supposed to be a team! We're supposed to help each other with our battles. This shouldn't have to be about just you!"

"He's _MAKING_ this about me! Rowen, I don't have a choice! He's gonna keep tearing the city apart until he gets what he wants!" Tanya yelled and looked over her shoulder, gesturing to the street. "And you know what…I'm gonna give it to him," she growled and clenched her fist.

"Tanya…be careful," Kento whispered. Tanya glanced at him, looking irritated.

"You don't have to worry about me," she snorted before running off. …*I* _do…_

* * *

Dais tapped his fingers against his arms and glanced at either side of the street. Occasionally police and EMR vehicles sped past but thankfully none came close enough to breach the barrier. He looked over his shoulder at the still-unconscious Ryo then returned his attention to the street.

Marcar approached him and stopped inches away. He reached up with his clawed hand and waved it infront of Dais' face. Dais didn't respond and glanced at Ryo once more. Marcar even snapped his fingers just infront of Dais' nose. The Elder Ronin didn't seem to notice.

"You know, I find it rather ironic that a self-styled 'Master of Illusion' can't tell when he himself is being fooled," Marcar smirked and circumvented Dais before kneeling beside Ryo. "Let's see what you have…" Marcar waved his clawed hand over Ryo and a transparent outline of Wildfire appeared briefly. "Fire-attuned, are we? Hmm…that might actually prove useful…" Marcar reached under his robes and pulled something from a belt pouch with his right hand.

It looked like a teardrop-shaped blob of glass with reddish smoke swirling at the center. "I believe I've finally found you a worthy host." Marcar broke the tip off with the talons on his left hand. The smoke snaked out of the glass capsule and seeped into Ryo's chest plate. The outline of Wildfire flashed briefly before vanishing. "I'll give you a couple days to get situated. Then, as per our agreement, you'll return to me so we can finish what we started…"

Dais looked over his shoulder again and frowned worriedly. Marcar stood up and walked over to Dais and snapped his right fingers in Dais' face again with no response. The sorcerer whistled a tune and walked away calmly with his hands clasped behind his back.

* * *

Blackblaze clamped down repeatedly with his jaws and eventually managed to weaken the metal enough for him to break free. He landed on all fours neatly and looked at the others. "Way to go Blackblaze! Think you can free us?" Cale asked. Blackblaze flicked his ears and twitched his whiskers, narrowing his golden eyes. Sage frowned, feeling worried at first. The Nether Tiger hunched forward then reared up on his hind legs, becoming bipedal.

"For your information, I would not have eaten the whiny fat man," Blackblaze grumbled and drew out a Soul Sword. "Cowardice tends to make the soul taste bitter."

"Well I'm glad you're being so conscious of your diet. Now can you please let us down?" Sage complained. It only took a few neat strokes to cut through their bindings. Sage, Cale, and Sehkmet landed on the ground neatly. The branching mess of metal disintegrated soon after.

"I thought you said you didn't want to use that form anymore?" Sehkmet brought up.

"Well if there is anything this body is good for," Blackblaze began and sheathed the sword. "It is opposable thumbs," he admitted and looked down at his thick paws.

"Hey! Everyone allright?" Rowen called as he and Kento approached.

"We're fine, thought he Incarnations still look like they're out of commission…hey…where's Tanya?" Sage frowned and searched for the Lady Ronin. "…Rowen! You didn't!"

"Not like we could've stopped her, dude," Kento sighed and looked over his shoulder. "This started between them. It has to end between them."

* * *

Tanya placed her fingers on a wall and leaned close to the surface. She'd changed to Typhoon sub-armor and her fingers curled up tight under the pink plate covering the back of her hand. She stared at the ground and narrowed her eyes in a furious scowl. Her hand started shaking.

_"Tanya! Where have you been? My word, child! What happened to you?" The Ancient frowned in concern upon seeing the young girl's condition. Dirt stained her cheeks and bits of grass and rock clung to her usually clean black hair. Her eyes looked frantic and she walked shakily. "You have been gone for hours! Tanya?"_

_"I don't wanna talk about it!" Tanya snapped and slipped into the blanket under her tent. The Ancient knelt beside her and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder, but she shrank away. "Please, Ancient. I just wanna go to sleep. I'm tired…"_

_"Very well then…if you are troubled, I am here for you."_

_"I know…I just…I don't wanna talk about it now…" the girl mumbled and pulled the blanket high around her shoulders and curled up into a ball. The Ancient withdrew to his side of the camp and stared at her, troubled. Underneath her armor, the girl shuddered._

_He used me…he_ used _me! He played me for a fool_! Tanya looked up, her bronze-brown eyes simmering with rage and the metal covering her hand started creaking. She stepped away from the wall and spread her arms wide. _Never falling, never fleeing_… she began the motions of the Eye of the Storm. _Free from fear and free from sin…_ Petals of light erupted around her and she gathered them up into her arms. _I am the Eternal Voice of the Earth_… She showered herself with the petals and they solidified into smooth pink plate metal. _I am the Warrior of the Wind._ Tanya drew both Swirlwind Swords and crouched before springing to the rooftop.

"MARCAR! CAN YOU HEAR ME? I'M RIGHT HERE, YOU SCALY LITTLE SON OF A BITCH! YOU WANT ME SO BAD, COME GET ME YOU LYING SACK OF SHIT!"

"Profanity is not at all becoming of you, Tanya," a voice said calmly. Tanya whirled around and spotted the robed sorcerer standing on an adjacent rooftop.

"I could give a censoredcensored what you think, you censored!"

"If my actions all those years ago somehow fostered this in you, I am truly sorry. I wanted so much for you to join me. We could've changed the world. We still can."

"When are you going to get it through your big fat scaly head? I want nothing to do with you! I went my own way, so why don't you go your own? If I do anything, it never has or never will be because someone else forced me to. I'll do as I will! I DO AS _I_ WILL!"

"Now see, that's where you're wrong, Tanya Sanada. As someone who considers himself a close friend, I can't stand idly by and watch while you use your magnificent talents for such righteous purposes," Marcar closed his eyes and placed his left palm over his chest.

"AAAAIIIGH!" Tanya shrieked and lunged. Marcar sprang back and pointed at the ground before leaping across the street. Tanya tensed to follow and pounced after him, but while midair, the street far below split open and black metal spikes rose out in a row. Before the spikes had a chance to pierce her armor, she fired off all twelve blades and severed the tips, leaving blunt enough surfaces for her to balance upon. Marcar raised both eyebrows, impressed by her resourcefulness, and continued to evade her attacks.

"Look at yourself! Look at the strength you're capable of! Why didn't you fight this way when you had your 'friends' with you?" Marcar made a plucking motion and a metal strip coiled up from underground and ran beneath his feet, carrying him high above the skyline.

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP!" Tanya sprang onto the strip and ran fast enough to maintain enough momentum to keep from falling when the strip began coiling up and around. Marcar's disfigured left eye softened, and a smile crept onto his face like that of admiration. The strip wound higher and Marcar surfed up its length far out of reach. Tanya shot her grapple line ahead of him and pulled herself up to intercept him. Marcar made a chopping motion at the strip and the end broke off and fell towards the street, taking Tanya with it.

Tanya disengaged her line from the strip she clung to then shot again, this time catching Marcar by the ankle. The sorcerer yelped when she pulled him down towards him. He raised a shield infront of his right arm and brought it up in time to block a stab from Tanya's Windblade Dagger. They continued wrestling on their way to the street below. "I've…got you…right where I want you," Marcar whispered and thrust forward with his left palm, placing it against Tanya's breast. A burst of invisible force catapulted the Lady Ronin high enough into the sky that the streets and buildings of the city appeared as thin lines and small shapes.

"That's funny…" Tanya said to herself as gravity reclaimed her and drew her back towards the street. "I was just about to say the same thing myself." The crown-shaped ornaments on the pommels of her Swirlwind Swords clicked when she joined them together and the blades whistled through the air as she began spinning them. "TYPHOON BLAST!"

* * *

Dais looked up when he heard the distant low-pitched whistling. Loose objects like trash and bits of debris began skittering to the side, driven by a strengthening wind. The EMR workers and police officers ducked their heads and cried out in surprise when their vehicles began rocking back and forth. "This can't be good…" Dais muttered and knelt down beside Ryo. He began pulling him slowly to a nearby doorway, seeking shelter from the violent gale.

Sage poked the petrified Iguadalupen in an effort to rouse him. He flinched when a sudden wind began blowing his hair over his left eye. Rowen's forelock whipped about madly and he turned around, searching for the source of the wind. Blackblaze-who'd reverted to tiger form-flattened his ears and growled softly. Cale and Sehkmet brought up their arms to shield themselves when dust began blowing against their faces.

"Oh no…don't do it Tanya…don't do it! Don't make the mistake I made…" Kento whispered and frowned in worry when he saw a distant pink speck suspended above the city.

* * *

"My shield wavers…in the face of your power, and not the others! Don't you see? You hold yourself back so much with your false friends and your own doubts; you nearly cripple your power! This is your true strength! It is so beautiful…why can't you understand!" Marcar cried and strained to keep his shield from popping like a soap bubble from the stress of the winds. For blocks around, rooftops began peeling up like the lids of sardine cans. Brick and concrete spewed from the cracks before being consumed in the tumult. Billboards snapped off of their fastenings and traffic lights popped straight out of their sockets. Street signs peeled away from their posts and plunged into nearby walls, piercing brick and concrete easily.

"THE ONLY THING I'M HAVING TROUBLE UNDERSTANDING, IS THAT NO MATTER HOW HARD I TRY, I STILL CAN'T SEEM TO DROWN YOU OUT!"

_She's just like her armor's namesake; beautifully violent on the outside, yet calm at the core_… Marcar closed his eyes and smiled. Then he opened his eyes and scowled. "You're a very special girl, Tanya; fiercely loyal and fiercely independent. I hope in time, you'll forgive me, but understand; I'm doing this for your own good." Marcar reached down and raked his talons against the crumbling pavement beneath his feet then swept his arm up and aimed his palm at Tanya. An invisible force wake expanded outward, surging against the wind.

Tanya's eyes widened when she saw her winds flowing in the opposite direction and coiling back towards her. She separated her swords and crossed them to block, and while she successfully withstood the backlash, an unseen fist caught her in the stomach and sent her into a choking fit. She barely managed to recover in time to fire her grapple line at an exposed wall. The line dug into the mortar snugly, but the mortar itself broke free and she continued plummeting.

She crashed shoulder-first into a wall then through the connecting floor back-first. Her momentum drove her through the entire building and she crashed into the street on the opposite side. Her body bounced once before she settled onto her stomach then rolled onto her side slowly. Tanya's breath came out in ragged wheezes and she tried to push herself to stand, but collapsed from fatigue. Her cheek rest against the asphalt and her eyes shut slowly.

Marcar landed on the street a few feet away. He held his left hand behind his back and walked towards the motionless body of the Lady Ronin. He knelt beside her slowly and reached out with his right hand, grasping the rim of her helmet between his thumb and index finger. "I sincerely didn't want things to turn out like this. When I met you, you seemed like such a smart, brave little girl. I find it unfortunate that you grew up into such a stubborn, foolish young woman," Marcar whispered and pulled Tanya's helmet away, letting her ponytails spill out onto the pavement. He cupped her cheek with his right palm and reached over with his left hand.

"I regret having to resort to control charms, but you can see I have no choice. I'm certain given time, you'll change your mind and I'll no longer need to use them." Marcar ran his talons through Tanya's bangs and brushed them away from her brow. "I really wish you had just come with me from the start. Perhaps this is my fault, since I wasn't as honest about my motives as you were with yours. I see now that my actions caused you to retreat within yourself, and I am sorry." He caressed her forehead with the backs of his talons then splayed his fingers.

Tanya's arms shot up and wrapped around his neck before he had a chance to react. Bronze brown eyes glared into his good eye and disfigured eye, burning with years of pent up rage. Tanya let out a muffled scream before ramming her right knee into Marcar's crotch. The sorcerer gurgled from the impact, since the sharp golden blade ornaments on the knee-guards dug into his flesh painfully. Tanya pulled her leg back and slammed him again, and again, pouring her remaining strength into each blow. On the fifth, she released Marcar and rolled away from him.

Marcar toppled back and gripped the folds of his robe tightly. Dark sticky crimson stained his trousers. He knelt on the pavement and his body shuddered from a fit of coughing and gagging. Meanwhile, Tanya drew both Swirlwind Swords jerkily and dug the tips into the pavement, using them as crutches to haul herself to her feet. She tried to raise one, fully intending to lop off Marcar's head, but ended up placing her weight on them instead. Her lips peeled far back enough to expose her gums, and her breath came out in shuddering wheezes.

"Okay…okay…*_glurp_* I'm smart enough…to take the hint…when it's given to me…oogh…" Marcar croaked and tottered to the side slightly. He looked up at Tanya and saw her eyes still smoldering and her eyebrows wrinkled in fury. "I really did want you to join me…you were the only person in all the centuries of my existence who treated me as a friend…I wanted to return your kindness…but I can see now, you are beyond reasoning."

Tanya sorely wanted to cuss him out, having expended all of her wrath and having only words left to use, but only a strained groan emanated from the back of her mouth. The tips of her swords began sinking bit by bit into the pavement because of her weight. She kept her glare fixed on Marcar as he stood up shakily, keeping his left hand clamped over his crotch.

"Goodbye, Tanya Sanada. I wish things could have turned out different…but I suppose it doesn't matter in the long run. I already have another to serve me…" Marcar smirked before his body shredded into small wisps and fluttered away in the breeze.

Tanya's chest-plate heaved with each breath and her right sword slipped out of her numbed fingers. She sagged down onto her left thigh and leaned against the other sword. Her breathing became shallow and her dried lips slowly started to slide down over her gums. The blade sank in further and soon her left elbow bumped against the asphalt. Her eyes started to droop shut the same time she vaguely registered many concerned voices calling her name.

* * *

"Mind if I ask again why you took us way out in the boonies?" Cye asked and shut the door to Jonathan's rusty old truck behind him. Gravel crunched underfoot as they approached the site.

"This shaft was discovered by pioneers. Near as we can tell, it extends more than a mile into the rock and appears to be divided into sections marked by slabs of granite. The first slab was broken in the 1800's by prospectors, and the second about twenty years ago." Jonathan pulled up the canvas covering the entrance. Anubis and Cye followed close behind, each holding a flashlight. "Anthropologists studying them initially thought these drawings were created by an offshoot of the Hopi culture, or even the Pueblo, but as you can see, such precision…" Jonathan held his lantern close to the wall. "Is impossible, even with today's techniques."

"…by the gods! This…this can't be! This is…this is the First Confrontation!" Anubis' eyes widened upon seeing the illustration in the eerily smooth wall of a white-haired man clad in dark green and gold armor wielding a golden blade with an ornamented hilt with six rings and a winged orb pommel. His opponent loomed over him like a thundercloud, dark and terrible, with six swords mounted on his back and tall black crests curling up from the head like horns.

"I don't believe it…how…how old are these?" Cye glanced at Jonathan, who bit his lip.

"You know the Mesopotamians, right?" Both Ronin's eyes widened in shock and they nearly dropped their flashlights. "Yeah. We're talking four figures here. Carbon dating doesn't lie."

"The Forging of the Nine…Talpa's Return…Hariel's Ascension, and Mardrena's Journey…this is astounding…even the Fall of the Four…" Anubis moved his hand over drawings clearly depicting him in his Armor of Cruelty alongside the other Dark Warlords.

"It gets even more interesting…this way." Jonathan led them further into the shaft and stopped at a set of drawings covering the wall from floor to ceiling. Anubis' gut flipped when he recognized the figure of a red-haired man with bulky armor fighting alongside a younger man in red armor. They brandished their weapons against a large grasping hand. "Watch this." Jonathan pulled out a small device from his jacket and flicked it on. Blue light shone against the wall and revealed a body connected to the hand; that of a colossal menacing dark warrior.

"Ryo needs to hear about this…Kayura… they must be informed!"

"No! No one else among the Ronin Warriors can know about this! Jonathan, keep working with Professor O'Connor! Find out where these drawings end, where they begin, and how deep this shaft goes. Catalogue everything you find!" Cye said to the Navajo man.

"Cye, what on Earth are you carrying on about? The others need to see this!" Anubis argued.

"No. No they don't. There's no telling what kind of damage knowing too much about the future might cause." Anubis stared at him uncertainly. "I've seen these kinds of drawings before…the style…the eyes…" Cye pointed at the black downward pointing triangular eyes of each figure. "It's the exact same style as the drawings Suzunagi showed me in my vision!"

Jonathan glanced at each of them, thoroughly confused. Anubis looked almost terrified. "Well…I suppose that explains where she got her source material…" he muttered softly.

* * *

"_Meteorologists suspect the same front that produced last week's spectacular electrical storm merged with an opposing pacific front, creating the rare and sudden Category 5 typhoon that ravaged parts of downtown. The city is reeling from the widespread destruction, and estimated repair costs are staggeringly high. The extremely powerful winds sent dozens of rooftops flying and deposited them miles away. Thankfully no fatalities were reporte-"_

Ryo set the remote down on the sofa arm and walked towards the lone figure standing infront of the TV. Tanya had a blanket pulled high around her neck and shoulders and bunched fabric under her arms. She'd taken a bath earlier, and her unbound hair hung down her back, still damp. "So he's the reason you don't trust people…" Tanya said nothing and kept staring at the screen. Ryo sighed and rubbed his fingers against his brow. "Look, Tanya; we've been over this before. You can't keep building these walls to keep everyone out just to protect yourself from harm. We're supposed to be more than just a team; we're supposed to be friends. The others-"

"Ryo." Tanya whirled around to face him and met his gaze firmly. Ryo paused and gazed back, concerned. "We all have our demons we have to face at some point." She shrugged the blanket over her chest. "Marcar was mine…" she whispered softly and turned back around.

"Well…he's gone now…he shouldn't trouble you ever again," Ryo patted her shoulder.

"That's the thing Ryo…before he left, he said 'he had another to serve him'…" Tanya's eyebrows wrinkled. "I don't think we've seen the last of him," she glanced to the side.

"We'll cross that bridge when we get to it…for now, let's both get some sleep. It's been a rough day for everyone." Ryo gave Tanya's shoulder a reassuring squeeze and exited the room. Tanya fingered the folds of the blanket and bit her lip.

It took a lot to get her worried, but Marcar's parting words to her managed to do just that.

* * *

"Ugh…" Ryo turned off the faucet and stood hunched over the sink a few moments to let the water drip off of his face. He grabbed a nearby towel and wiped it over his face a few times then lowered it away from his eyes. He blinked a few times to focus then looked into the mirror.

Something pitch-black with glowing red eyes and a flaring red-orange mane hissed at him, baring inch-long fangs. "Gyaaagh!" Ryo yelped and recoiled in shock. He blinked again and studied the mirror. The reflection appeared normal. "Whew…okay…I think I got hit too hard…"

Ryo finished drying his face then washed his hands once more. Instead of drying them, he flicked water from his fingers then headed for his room. He shuffled over to his bed and pulled back the covers. Whiteblaze glanced at him at him and swished his tail once. Ryo gave him a grateful rub between the ears before plopping himself face-down onto the mattress. Whiteblaze set his head down and closed his eyes. Ryo turned over and pulled the covers around his shoulders. He let his right arm dangle over the edge of the bed.

Both of them settled into a deep slumber, and neither heard the soft sizzling sound that seemed to come from Ryo's limp hand. Drops of water hung from his fingertips briefly before retreating. Faint wisps of steam fluttered up from Ryo's hand, and the remaining moisture began to evaporate rapidly, not unlike the way water would from a hot skillet.


	19. Demon Ryo

Demon Ryo

By Mardrena

"You sure your supervisors aren't gonna get suspicious about these sites?" Rowen asked.

"By the time they get around to assessing the damage, they'll hardly even notice," Sehkmet replied. The three Elders and the five younger Ronin worked late to repair one of the buildings devastated from the past week's battles. Dais and Ryo perched high above working on the inner frame while Sage, Cale, and Tanya focused on installing panels on the lower levels. Sehkmet, Rowen, and Kento cleaned up the intact portions of the interior and ferried up materials.

"Hey…Tanya's been awfully quiet lately," Cale muttered.

"I can't say I'm surprised. She blames herself for most of this damage. I'd feel bad too if I nearly wiped the city off the map," Sage whispered. All of a sudden something whizzed infront of his eyes fast enough to snip off a few strands of his bangs. A nail impaled itself in the wall.

"Whoops! Sorry about that, must've been a misfire. My bad!" Tanya called out from where she fastened drywall with a nail gun and waved apologetically, yet her eyes glittered mischievously. Sage and Cale exchanged glances before returning to their tasks.

"I'm impressed with how dedicated you three are to your jobs," Ryo remarked.

"It wasn't my first choice to move back here, but I'll admit being in the Mortal Realm for so long _has_ sort of mellowed me, among other things such as my pending nuptials," Dais replied.

"Speaking of that, when's it supposed to happen? I keep hearing about it. Did it already happen and we missed it?" Ryo raised an eyebrow and paused in welding a seam.

"Well…you've seen the Pavillion, right?"

"Yeah. It's the size of Tokyo. What about it? They expecting that many people to show up?"

"They haven't had a Pairing this big since…" Dais paused and bit his lip thoughtfully.

"…Since Danae's parents?"

"No. Their Pairing happened decades ago. No, I'm thinking about Aurora and T'plaureth…then again, that might be a bad example to use. Theirs was pretty controversial. It didn't sit right with a lot of people for a Native to marry into a noble House."

"Why's that? T'plaureth comes off as a cool guy."

"I dunno any details, just that there's a lot of bad blood between humans and Natives."

"I can't wait until Kayura gets back from her little date with Anubis," Cale grumbled.

"It's not a date. Michelle asked Kayura to come along to help with her shaman-training, and Cye volunteered to port them over," Rowen quipped as he dropped off some items.

"Yeah. It's not like they teach that sort of stuff at the local university," Kento added.

"I don't object to the girl wanting to visit her home town, but after serving evil for four-hundred years, you kinda forget how to do certain things; like cook," Cale said.

"I thought Sehkmet knew how to cook," Sage commented.

"Oh he does. Cye was gracious enough to impart some of his culinary wisdom, but the thing with Sehkmet is in stark contrast to your noble Ronin of Trust, he likes to cook fish; lots, and lots of fish. It might be healthy and cheap, but every so often a man wants a nice hot cut of meat so fresh you can still hear it mooing," Cale ranted in exasperation and waved both hands. Sehkmet cupped his hands around his mouth and made a 'moo' sound. "Hush up, you fish-fiend!"

"These welds are taking forever…I can probably finish faster with my armor," Ryo muttered.

"Okay, but make sure you don't overdo it or else the joints get stressed," Dais cautioned.

"ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!" After his armor finished materializing, Ryo reached to draw out a sword but collapsed to his knees abruptly. "AAGH! Ahh!" he cried upon feeling an intense searing pain from within. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and keeled over.

"Whoa! What's wrong?" Dais exclaimed and scooted over.

"I-I-I don't know! My body! It feels…it feels like I'm burning up from inside!" Ryo gasped. Sweat ran down his forehead but sizzled and evaporated before it could fall.

"Sit tight. I'll call the others," Dais assured and turned around.

Sehkmet frowned and glanced up at the high scaffold when he thought he heard a cry. His eyes widened when he saw Dais flying into the air. The dazed Elder Ronin's body arced down towards a disposal container filled with sharp objects like shattered planks and rebar.

"I got you!" Rowen sprang into the air and caught Dais in time, landing on the ground safely. "Dais! Dais! What happened?" The others rushed over and gathered around the two.

"Ryo…uhnnn…" Dais sighed before passing out from his injuries. Just then, wicked-sounding laugher echoed from the high scaffold. They looked up and saw a shadowy figure standing on the steel frame. It cackled madly a few more moments before springing away into the night.

"What the hell was _that_?" Cale exclaimed.

"Whoa…where's Ryo? He was up there with him!" Kento glanced around.

"You guys stay here and look after Dais. _I'll_ find Ryo," Tanya stated and made her way to the highest beam of the frame. "ARMOR OF TYPHOON!" She drew out a Windblade Dagger and pointed it at the horizon, turning around slowly. The blade began quivering slightly and she sheathed the blade and headed off in the direction her augury had indicated. She stopped when she spotted Ryo in full armor standing on the edge of a roof. "Ryo! You okay?"

"I'm fine. I just needed a breather," Ryo responded gruffly.

"What the hell happened back there? Did you find what attacked Dais?"

"…no." Tanya raised an eyebrow and walked over to him.

"You sure you're okay? Your voice sounds…_weird_."

"I said…I'm _fine_." Ryo's voice came out with a curious echo.

"Well, whatever it was it knocked Dais out cold. You think-" Only years of combat reflexes enabled her to respond in time to block the savage strike. She staggered back a step from the weight of Ryo's swords pressing against her own, and she stared at him through crossed blades. "RYO! What the hell do you think you're doing! I-" Tanya halted when she saw Ryo's face.

Only pitch black appeared visible through the eye and mouth holes of his face mask. Tanya's eyes slowly widened the same time two slits began to form behind the eye holes. They glowed flame-orange and at the center of each she saw a yellow slit. A third slit appeared behind the mouth hole and began widening, exposing inch-long fangs. The thing hissed wickedly.

"HOLY SHIIIT!" Tanya sprang and thrust the tips of both swords into the roof and swung up with her feet, belting the nightmare in the chest and sending it careening off the building.

"TANYA!" She looked over her shoulder and saw Rowen and Sehkmet approaching, both in full armor. "What'd you do that for?" Rowen alighted beside her.

"There's something wrong with Ryo! He-"

"Owwwww…" The three of them peered over the roof's edge and spotted Ryo trying to sit up in the dumpster where he'd landed. "Anyone get the license plate number of the Pegasi that trampled over me?" Ryo asked groggily and plucked spoiled noodles off of his chest plate.

His face looked completely normal.

* * *

"I _know_ what I saw! It wasn't Ryo in his armor, it was some…some_thing_! It had black skin and red eyes and fangs this big!" Tanya measured the length between her thumb and index finger. They'd returned to the construction site and powered down to sub-armor.

"Ryo? You know what she's talking about?" Rowen asked and glanced at the Ronin Leader.

"I wish I could say, but all I remember is one minute I'm talking to Dais and the next I'm lying in a pile of trash," Ryo shrugged and rubbed the back of his head.

"Something _did_ attack Dais, and Tanya's not the type to make a mistake. He awake yet?" Sehkmet looked over his shoulder at where Sage, Cale, and Kento tended to the fallen Elder.

"No. Whatever it was, it hit him pretty hard. He'll be out for the entire night," Sage answered.

"I think we should take Dais to the estate and let him rest up there until we can figure out what happened," Rowen suggested. No sooner did he say that than did a loud explosion and distant flash of light appear on the skyline. "That was from downtown!"

"We should check it out! Maybe we'll find whatever attacked Ryo and Dais!" Kento stated.

"I'd rather avoid a large-scale fight if possible. Tanya and Sage will come with me. The rest of you get Dais home and look after him. We'll get to the bottom of this," Ryo stated.

Civilians screamed and fled from the handful of Dynasty Soldiers smashing up cars and business entrances. Fluorescent lights burst and glass shattered from reckless strikes. "There are a lot of people here. We should still armor up," Sage recommended from their perch on a roof.

"Yeah. ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!"

"ARMOR OF HALO!"

"ARMOR OF TYPHOON!"

A man squeaked when a soldier grabbed him by his shirt front and lifted him off the ground. "Hey bucket-heads!" The soldier grunted and turned around upon hearing the taunt, releasing the civilian. The other soldiers turned to face the three Ronin Warriors that landed on the street. "I think it's a bit late for you guys to be-AAAAGH!" Ryo clutched his chest and collapsed.

"Ryo!" Tanya glanced at him but had to turn her attention to the soldiers as they lunged. She fired her blades and took out two at range and used her chakaram to dispatch two more.

"Ryo! What's wrong?" Sage asked and crouched beside him, readying his sword. Ryo only responded with strained whimpering and his entire body shuddered. Sage stood up and slashed at a pair of soldiers that tried sneaking up on them. More soldiers materialized and surrounded the Ronin. Some of them noticed Ryo floundering about on the pavement and dog-piled him. "Get away from him!" Sage turned to engage them but had to wrestle with a soldier that tried wrapping its arms around his shoulders. He punched it in the visor and kicked it away.

"YEAAAAAGH!" The soldiers ganging up on Ryo flew in all directions, their bodies slamming into walls and landing on cars. Sage felt relieved upon seeing the Ronin Leader on his feet and fighting. Ryo kept his back turned to Sage and plunged his blades into attacking soldiers. He even reached up and grabbed one's visor and pulled it clean off of its face.

"Glad you're okay, Ryo!" Sage turned to face the next wave of soldiers. "Now we can crush these tin ca-ugh!" he grunted when something struck him on the back of the head.

"I just finished wrecking this town the other day!" Tanya growled and plunged a sword down straight through a soldier's head and into the chest cavity. "Don't need you trashing it more! Ryo, Sage! You two finished on your-" Tanya turned around but gasped when she saw Sage lying face down on the pavement and Ryo standing behind him. "Oh no…" Tanya croaked when she saw the face mask down and pitch black through the eye and mouth holes. "Ryo! What's wrong with you?" Tanya cried when the glowing eyes and fanged mouth appeared.

"Nothing's wrong, _sis_," Ryo's voice came out in a gruff tone. "I haven't felt this good in my entire life! Such power…" The thing hissed and turned to face the dozens of civilians that had remained further down the street to watch the Ronin Warriors battle. "I think I'll test it out on these fools!" Tanya watched in horror as Ryo's hands joined the Wildfire Swords together. "HELLFIRE INCINERATE!" Flames of a sickening red color erupted from the blades.

"NO!" Tanya sprang into the path of the attack and began spinning her own swords. "TYPHOON BLAST!" The attacks collided in the middle of the street, and rather than unleash waves of devastation in all directions, they seemed to cancel each other out. Tanya parted her swords and panted heavily, both exhausted from the effort and relieved at the lack of damage.

"Rrrgh! Just like you to ruin my fun!" the thing snarled and crouched, making a shockingly high leap above the skyline. "HELLFIRE INCINERA-" Tanya leapt after him, screaming defiance. She fired her grapple line and caught the thing by its ankles then tugged sharply. "Whoa! Whoaaaaaa!" the thing yelped as Tanya swung it down towards the street below and smacked it face-first into the pavement. Tanya retracted her line and ran over to where it landed.

"Tanya! What are you doing! Stop!" Tanya glanced to the side and saw Sage run towards her.

"It's not Ryo! It's some sort of-" She pointed one sword at the back of its neck.

"Ooogffh…" Ryo began peeling himself out of the cavity his body had formed. Tanya stared in disbelief at his human face and looked from him to a thoroughly confused Sage.

* * *

"I'm not lying! It was the same monster I saw last time! Sage, you know what happened, right?" Tanya gestured to Sage. They had returned to the estate and stood in the living room.

"Sorry, Tanya, but I can't remember anything except getting clocked upside the head. If I hadn't been wearing armor, I might've ended up in the same boat as Dais," Sage replied sadly.

"I think I know what's happening here…" Rowen began. Tanya smiled in relief at first. "Tanya…I think you're having post-traumatic hallucinations." Tanya's face fell at the comment.

"…what?" she said slowly.

"Your battle with Marcar the other day was so intense, you're still upset about it and it's causing you to superimpose his image onto everyone you fight, even Ryo."

"I didn't see Marcar! I'm not crazy!" Tanya protested angrily.

"No one's saying you are, but you should probably take it easy the next few days and stay out of combat until you get your thoughts settled back down," Ryo reasoned. Tanya stared at him with narrowed eyes and opened her mouth to speak then took a deep breath. She closed her mouth and squeezed her eyes shut then shook her head and exited the room swiftly.

"She took that a lot better than you did at her age," Rowen said with a smirk.

"Hnnn…I hate doing this to her, but she hasn't been running on all cylinders since that fight. The worst part of it is I still can't account for those times I wasn't conscious," Ryo admitted.

"Hey…what if it _is_ Marcar behind all this? Maybe he's the one that attacked Dais and Sage and he tricked Tanya into bashing Ryo. Maybe he's taking revenge on her by making us take her out of action. He wasn't too happy about her snubbing his offer," Kento theorized.

"I wouldn't put it past the scaly little prick," Cale commented from where he tended to Dais.

"We should just sleep off the rest of the night and wait till morning. I'll call Shannon and see if she can't use the Cross to see what's going on. She wouldn't be able to come herself since she's been pulling double shifts all week, but you can probably get Mia to drop you off by the hospital on her way to work so you won't have to use your armor to teleport," Sage suggested.

* * *

Ryo waved to Mia as she drove off towards the university. He approached the entrance but before he had a chance to cross the threshold, a loud explosion drew his attention to the opposite side of the street where he spotted several Dynasty Soldiers descending from the rooftops. He ran until he reached the ambulance docks and hid himself. "ARMOR OF WILD-"

"RYO! NO! STOP!" Shannon ran over and grabbed his wrist tightly. "You can't use armor!"

"Shannon, the Dynasty's attacking! I-" Ryo began protesting but Shannon tugged again.

"Ryo, you _can't_!" Shannon sounded frantic. "Oh my God…I can feel it…this close, I can sense it…Ryo; your armor's been infected with a demon!" Ryo's eyes widened upon hearing that and he watched Shannon pull out her pendant. The Wildfire Ruby darkened. "It's very old, and very powerful, and it's using your armor as a conduit to manifest fully in your body."

"What if I use my AnimArmor? Lion wouldn't work well but maybe Dragon could-"

"We can't take the chance! Look, I'm sure the police can handle a couple Dynasty Soldiers until the other Ronin Warriors get here." Just as she finished saying that, the flaming wreck of a police car tumbled down the street and scraped against the wall, sirens sputtering weakly. Ryo glanced at Shannon and frowned in dismay. "Ugh…this is going to come back to bite me in the ass, I just _know_ it…" she muttered and slipped the cord off from around her neck.

"Whoa! Shannon-!" Ryo protested when Shannon placed the cord over his shoulders.

"The Ronin Cross is as much a holy artifact as it is a magical one. It should prevent the demon from manifesting. Now go, and make sure you don't let yourself out of sight of anyone!"

"Where the hell is back-up?" a cop yelled and unloaded full clip into a soldier dicing up a car.

"Aim for the eyes. Not as much protection there," a voice spoke from behind. The cop steadied his aim and shot. The bullet pierced the visor easily and exited the head.

"Wow! Thanks for the tip buddy!" the cop looked over his shoulder grinning gratefully. His grin quickly turned into a frown when he saw the young man wearing red and silver armor.

"You guys might wanna pull back and get people to safety. I'll take care of this."

"Why? So you can blow up the city again?" another cop snorted. Ryo scowled and sighed.

"Okay, that was my sister who did that and-to be honest-she was in a bad mood."

"All officers, withdraw immediately!" the commanding officer shouted into a radio. Ryo waited until the remaining intact cars departed before turning his attention to the Dynasty.

"It's too bad they don't admit Dynasty goons to the ER, cuz if they did, you guys would need it!" Ryo drew both swords and lunged. Patients and hospital personnel crowded around the windows overlooking the street and watched the armored man dispatch the marauding enemy in spectacular fashion. Civilians lingering on the sidewalks cheered when the last soldier crumpled into a pile of scraps but bolts of black lightning struck the ground and summoned more soldiers.

"Ryo! We're here!" Sehkmet called and landed on the street, followed by Cale and Kento.

"You okay this time, bud?" Kento asked when he saw Ryo in full armor.

"Yeah. Whatever's inside me definitely wants out, but I'm doing allright so far," Ryo replied and glanced at the pendant. The Wildfire Ruby pulsed with a strong light.

"That girl's smart. Very smart, but I won't be denied my dues this time…" Fabric whipped about the legs of a lanky figure standing on the edge of a roof overlooking the battle. Cloth slid away from the scaly arm and fingers tipped with curved talons made a twitching motion.

* * *

Rowen returned to the living room to see Tanya sitting on the sofa next to the one where Dais rest. "Hey, Tanya? Listen, I'm sorry about what I said. I was just-"

"It's not important," Tanya snapped. "All that matters is to hear Dais' side of the story." The two glanced at Dais when they heard him moan groggily.

"Dais? Dais! Hey! You awake?" Rowen asked and scooted over to kneel next to the sofa. Dais' single eye blinked slowly and he rolled onto his side, rubbing his head. "Dais, listen; we need to know what happened to you and Ryo. We think it might've been the Dynasty."

"…What?" Dais stared at him bewildered and blinked again. "What the heck are you talking about?" Rowen frowned in confusion but waited for Dais to collect his wits. "The Dynasty didn't attack me." Tanya frowned upon hearing him use 'me' instead of 'us'. "Ryo did."

* * *

"What?" Ryo whirled around when he heard panicked screaming and saw a single soldier grab a civilian woman and carry her away to the roof of the hospital. "Hey! Get back here!"

"Ryo! What are you doing! We have to stick together!" Kento protested but had to grapple with soldiers instead of giving chase. Cale and Sehkmet likewise found themselves occupied.

"Let her go, tin-head!" Ryo growled. The soldier had stopped several blocks away from the hospital and raised its weapon to the woman's neck. Ryo narrowed his eyes and tensed.

All of a sudden, the soldier and his hostage vanished, but not in teleport. They simply faded from view. Ryo cried out from an impact in the back that sent him skidding across the rooftop.

Kento blinked in surprise when the five or so soldiers bearing down on him up and vanished. Cale's target disappeared before he had a chance to disembowel it and Sehkmet's swords sliced through empty air. All over the street the invading soldiers vanished. Even the shredded remains from previous kills disappeared. "We've just been had!" Cale shouted in realization.

"I think you can do without this now. Jewelry really doesn't suit you." Ryo gasped when a clawed hand covered in mottled yellow-green scales grabbed the Ronin Cross and tore it off his neck then tossed it to the side. Ryo curled up from the sudden surge of pain and clenched his fists. He could feel it rising like a surge of magma. "I trust you're enjoying your little guest?"

"M-M-Marcar? Y-You're the one…w-who did t-this to m-me?" Ryo croaked. His body shuddered all over and his throat felt as if it literally burned.

"Your friends care a great deal about you, but leaving an _amateur_ to guard you really was quite foolish. I didn't get where I am today without having a backup plan. You see, the first time-as you yourself said-was just a breather. The second time allowed it to test its power, and now the demon will have established itself so firmly, it can make you transform at will."

"I can fight it…I can resist your spell…" Ryo whispered. Sweat poured down his brow.

"But that would take _concentration_." Marcar lashed out with one foot and struck Ryo savagely in the ribs. While he suffered no injury, the blow reverberated through the armor. Ryo took several rapid breaths, trying desperately to focus and suppress the presence surging up from within. Marcar clasped his hands behind his back and chuckled before kicking again and again.

Ryo had squeezed his eyes shut trying to concentrate. He opened them when he heard a curious creaking sound and looked at his hands shakily. He unclenched them and gasped when he saw the black plate covering his fingertips start to warp and expand slightly. Underneath his armor, his fingers began growing into thick claws and the armor changed to match. Ryo whimpered when he felt prickling sensations in his mouth and his lips peeled back over his teeth. His eyes widened in horror when he saw the reflection in his armguard of his canines lengthening into inch-long fangs. He could feel it taking him over under his armor. "No…no…NO!"

"Soon I'll have a powerful demon servant that can wield the Armor of Wildfire…"

Sweat turned to steam and tears boiled away from his skin as Ryo pushed himself to his knees. He screamed, but the sound that came out sounded nothing at all like a human.

Tanya paused when she heard the unearthly shriek. "Ryo!" She glanced around, but Rowen had flown off to search in the opposite direction earlier. Tanya bounded towards the source of the sound and landed on a rooftop where she saw Ryo standing with his back to her. "Ryo!"

"Heya sis." Ryo's voice spoke with a slight echo. He turned around slowly and Tanya shuddered upon seeing the pitch black face and burning red eyes. "Come to check up on me? Turns out you were right: we all have our demons," the nightmare grinned, baring its fangs.

"ARMOR OF TYPHOON!" Tanya wasted no time in summoning armor, but oddly enough the nightmare waited for her to finish. "Whatever you are, get out of my brother's body now!"

"Sorry. Not gonna happen. This body suits me, and I like it in here," Ryo's voice shifted into a gruff echo. "I think we mesh well; I've got the fire, and he's got the passion," the thing chuckled and closed its eyes, giving the appearance of a void.

"I told you I wanted you to join me, but you refused to listen, so I enlisted your brother and as you can see, he's much more obliging," Tanya scowled at Marcar when he stepped out from behind the beast. "Who needs a belligerent wench when I have an invincible demon? I _would_ offer you the chance to submit yourself to me, but considering how our last encounter went, I think not. Kill her," Marcar ordered and waved a hand dismissively before turning around.

Tanya tightened her grip on her swords and tensed for an attack. The demon stared at her for several moments. The glowing orange slits that served as pupils shifted to the side. "Why should I?" the demon growled deeply. Marcar paused in walking away and whirled around.

"What? What do you mean 'why should you'? You'll do it because I _told_ you to!"

"Sorry, but that's not a good enough reason anymore," the demon snarled and turned to face him. "You kept me cooped up in that dinky little bauble for three-hundred years and still think you can order me around? I get cramps even in gas form, and I didn't like it one bit!"

"I gave you a host! Just like I promised!" Marcar protested.

"Yeah, only after spending the past three centuries with your thumbs up your ass! You didn't even have the _spine_ to offer _yourself_ as a host!" The demon narrowed its eyes.

"You know I couldn't! Sulseros kept me on a tight leash! He would've suspected!"

"And you couldn't risk tipping your hand without losing the chance to steal his precious power, huh? Well I got news for you, bucko; I can easily amplify this body's power to ten times that of their Inferno, and your power doesn't come anywhere _near_ Inferno." Tanya had both eyebrows raised and glanced back and forth between the two, unsure what to make of the quarrel. "Because of your delay, I'm declaring our agreement null and void."

"Y-Y-You can't do that! I can still command you, Ar-…Ar-…" Marcar gulped and ran his tongue over his lips. He tried speaking again, and sweat broke out on the human side of his face.

"What's wrong, Marcar? Feeling a little _parched_!" the demon cackled and drew the Wildfire Swords. Tanya raised an arm to shield her face and took a step back. The air began rippling from intense overwhelming heat, forcing her to pull down her face mask.

"Ar-! Ar-!" Marcar stuttered and clutched his throat with his right hand.

"You know what they say: REVENGE IS A DISH BEST SERVED BARBECUE STYLE! HELLFIRE INCINERATE!" The demon pointed both blades at the sorcerer, cackling evilly.

Marcar raised his shield that had withstood all the fury of the Ronin Warriors without a dent. Instead of surrounding the shield and crushing from all sides, the demon skillfully focused its attack like a wedge into a single point in the shield. Marcar's eyes widened in sheer terror as the crimson flames began boring through despite his efforts to reinforce the barrier.

The red flames swelled, pushing into the shield much the same way a needle would into a balloon. Any and all confidence and smugness had fled Marcar, and he screamed and screamed as the attack pierced his shield and his torso. His robes vaporized immediately and his hair curled and crackled. His flesh charred and broke away into bits of ash and his eyes and tongue seemed to melt. Even the ashes burned away until nothing but a thin vapor remained.

Tanya had always taken the phrase 'free from fear' to heart, but she had never before felt such terror as she did upon seeing a man who had tricked and schemed and swatted aside the Ronin as if they were nothing get _erased_ from existence. A weak whimper rose from her throat and she shakily pointed a sword at the demon. Her armor creaked, she shuddered so.

The demon turned to look at her calmly. The few facial features that appeared visible with the pitch black skin seemed almost thoughtful rather than wicked. "I don't have to kill you. You don't pose a threat to me," the demon said and sheathed both swords. "No sense hitting a hornets' nest with a Wildfire Flare by killing the wrong person and risking losing this body," the demon shrugged and closed its eyes. Confusion overcame fear and Tanya blinked several times.

"…excuse me?" she squeaked. The demon glanced at her.

"I've got no quarrel with you." The demon closed its eyes again and tilted its face up, inhaling deeply. "It's been far too long…yes…yes I think this body will do just fine…I'll be on my way. There's someone I want to visit; someone who I think is much underappreciated in your circle."

"Ryo! Wait!" Tanya cried to no avail as the teleport rings formed and the demon vanished.

* * *

"Professor Koji? You got a call on line two from Tanya Sanada?"

"I got it. Thank you," Mia cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder while she flipped through files. "Tanya? Is it urgent? I'm kind of swamped at the moment."

"_Mia! Listen, that scaly son of a bitch Marcar infected Ryo with a demon and now Ryo's turned into a monster_-" Mia had to lower the phone when her assistant stopped by to drop off more folders. _"I think he's coming after you! If you see him, don't get anywhere near him, and make sure you're not by yourself at any time! I'm on my way!"_

"I'm sorry I missed part of that. What did you say was wrong with Ryo?"

"Ryo's possessed! Stay away from him! He-" Tanya yelled into the receiver of the payphone, ignoring bewildered civilians watching her from outside. She paused when she heard a hollow click and bland recorded dialogue. "ARRGH!" Civilians watched in awe when the female Ronin Warrior uprooted the entire phone booth and hurled it across the street. Tanya stood there fuming a few seconds before relaxing to get her bearings and firing her grapple line at the roof.

Mia raised an eyebrow when she heard the connection cut off and lowered the phone. While she dwelled on the obscure warning, her assistant poked her head into the office. "Hey, the printer needs a new ream. I'm gonna run down to the supply room real quick, okay?"

"Huh? Oh, sure." Mia said absently and went back to her previous task after the woman left. She paused while placing a folder and frowned when she remembered what Tanya said. She pushed her chair back and stood up and walked over to the door, peering out into the hall. She started to walk down the hall after the assistant but paused when she heard a faint moan. "Who's there?" Mia demanded and whirled around. She gasped when she saw a bedraggled figure leaning against the wall. "Ryo? Ryo! Oh my God, what happened to you! You look terrible!"

"That…sorcerer…Marcar…he tried to control me …but I was able…to break free of his spell…" Ryo wheezed and slumped down, but Mia discarded all sense of caution and ran over to support him, catching him by the shoulders. Ryo slowly wrapped his arms around her shoulders, hugging her gently. "Thinking about you…gave me the strength to resist him…"

"…well I'm glad you're allright now." Mia raised an eyebrow, mildly surprised by the comment. "Tanya called earlier and said something bad had happened…" Ryo's hands moved to her shoulders. Mia wrinkled her eyebrows. "Ryo…are you sure you're feeling allright? You're awfully warm…" She felt his grip tighten, and an intense heat coming from his hands. "You're not warm, you're burning up! Ryo!" Mia wiggled out of his grasp and looked up at his face.

"So, what do you think of the new look?" it asked in Ryo's voice tinged with a slight echo and grinned, baring inch-long fangs. It almost looked like a photo negative with pitch black skin and bright red-orange hair. The slit-shaped pupils in the red eyes burned like candles. Pointed ears poked up through the shaggy hair. It made a waving gesture with its right hand, displaying thick black claws. Mia recoiled from the demon and backed up until she bumped into the photocopier. The demon took a step towards her, grinning and hissing softly.

"AAARRAAAGH!" Mia managed to summon up the strength to wrench the lid off of the copier and slam it against the nightmare's head. It screamed and staggered back, and Mia used the distraction to flee down the hall and into a room with a window exit to a fire escape.

"Owch!" The beast pried the copier lid off of where it had stuck on a tiny curved white horn. It ran its talons through the thick red hair to soothe the ache. "Damn, that's gonna smart…"

Mia scrambled down the fire escape quickly. She almost lost her grip recoiling when the thing swung down infront of her, hanging from a bar with one hand. "Miaaaaa, what'd you go and do that for?" Ryo's voice whined. Mia ignored him/it and continued climbing. The red eyes widened in surprise. "You know, most women I've known usually run around in a panic."

"Well I'm not most women. Go away, you evil beast!"

"Aww, I'm not evil…just misunderstood." Mia glared at him sharply and continued her descent. The demon latched onto the lower tier with its ankles and swung down, pulling itself up until he hung at eye-level with Mia. "Oh come on, I don't look that bad, do I? I mean, it's not like I got possessed by a forest demon. They're pretty nasty for elementals…all covered with moss and roots…sometimes fungus grows on them…" the thing in Ryo's guise grimaced.

"Why are you even talking to me? Why am _I_ talking back! Ugh!" Mia kept climbing.

"I dunno. Maybe it's my devilish good looks? Wow…you're totally not afraid, are you? You know, that's one thing I've always respected; you keep your cool no matter what." Mia yelped when the thing swung down infront of her. It hung upside down with its knees hooked through the bars. It folded its arms over its chest and had its mouth shut. Mia frowned sadly.

"Ryo…please tell me you can hear me? The real you! You can fight this thing, I know it! Please tell me you're in there!" The beast stared at her impassively and blinked slowly, and she found the appearance unnerving. The pitch black skin made it very difficult to distinguish highlights on the lips or curve of the cheeks and jaw. It raised its hand and closed its eyes.

"I'm sorry; Ryo can't come to the phone right now. If you would like to speak to him later please leave a message at the tone. _beep_." Mia risked the nearly seven-foot drop and landed with no injury. She tried to run, but the beast landed infront of her and grabbed her arms.

"Let go! Let go! What have you done with Ryo! The Ryo I know would never do this!"

"Ahh, well see, that's something you should ask yourself," the demon wagged a finger close to her face. "Are you speaking to some 'horrible monster' that's taken over your friend's body? Or are you speaking to the _real_ Ryo…the side of Ryo you've never seen before. The side of Ryo you never knew could _exist_," it whispered softly. Mia stared into the red eyes in disbelief.

"No…no! You're lying! Ryo's not like that!" she protested and struggled violently.

"Hah hah hah! Well, I guess you don't know me as well as you thought." The demon brought its right hand close to Mia's face and splayed its claws then curled them. Mia ceased struggling suddenly, unable to do more than twitch her eyelashes. "Shhh…shhh…you don't have to be afraid…It's okay…" The demon raised its left hand and brushed Mia's hair away from her neck. "I've always admired you…that's why I'm doing this." It cupped Mia's chin in its palm, keeping its right hand close to her eyes. "It'll only hurt a little bit at first…then you'll be just like me."

Mia's mind screamed to resist, wrench away, but no matter how hard she tried her body refused to obey. Her eyelids started to droop. The warmth from the demon's skin touching hers didn't feel scalding…it felt comforting. It leaned down and hinged its jaw open wide. Mia couldn't even shudder when she felt hot breath against her neck and the tips of the fangs touch her skin. In her mind she whimpered when she felt them sink into her flesh ever so slightly.

"HEEEAAGH!" Something pink and white slammed into the demon and sent it flying. Mia gasped and clamped a hand over her neck, free from the trance. "We're getting out of here. C'mon!" Tanya grabbed Mia by the waist and fired her grapple before swinging away around the building. The demon staggered to its feet and threw back its head, screaming in rage. Tanya set Mia down on the ground and retracted the line. "Did he hurt you?"

"I'm allright…it-he just scratched me," Mia grimaced and ran her fingertips over the four shallow scrapes where the demon's fangs had grazed her skin.

"Tanya! Did you find her?" Rowen dove down between buildings and alighted beside them.

He frowned and looked up when he saw the creature that resembled Ryo land several feet away.

"Let her go!" it snarled and bared its fangs.

"Sorry buddy! You want her, you gotta go through us!" Kento declared as he landed on the ground, joined by Sage, Cale, Sehkmet, and Dais. The Ronin placed themselves infront of Mia and Tanya. The demon looked mildly surprised. It blinked a few times then shrugged.

"Okay," it said simply then reached down and thrust its fingers into the pavement, wrenching the ground apart. The other Ronin yelped and barely managed to catch themselves on the walls of the deep chasm. Tanya clung to the earth with her chakaram halves and Mia held onto her shoulders. She gasped when she spotted the demon creeping towards her along the wall. "Mia, please. You're the only one who can help me. Don't you want to be with me?" it coaxed.

"Ryo! Stay back!" Rowen warned from where he hovered in the air. The demon glanced at him and snorted dismissively. Tanya growled and narrowed her eyes. Mia felt herself start to fall under the demon's sway. "Last warning!" Rowen pulled back on the bowstring. The demon showed no sign of relenting. _Please miss_… Rowen squeezed his eyes shut and let fly.

Mia's heart tightened when she heard the gurgling scream and saw the arrow pierce Ryo's throat. The demon barely managed to avoid falling into the chasm and clung to the wall. "Ryo!" Mia cried and clambered over Tanya, ignoring the Lady Ronin's protests. Mia hauled herself back to the surface and crawled over in time to catch the demon by the shoulders and pull it up before it fell. She dragged it onto the pavement and rolled it onto its back. "Ryo! Oh! I'm so sorry! I didn't want you to get hurt! You're going to be allright!" Mia pulled the arrow out, and the tip made a grisly sucking sound. Orange fluid dripped from the tip and bled from the wound in the demon's throat. Mia placed her hands together with the intention of staunching the blood flow, but jerked her hands back when the fluid singed her palms. "Ahh!"

"Mia! Get away from him!" Tanya ordered as she and the other Ronin made their way to the surface. The demon let out a gurgle and raised one hand to the wound. Kento glanced to the side when the chasm began sealing up without a trace. At the same time, Mia watched intrigued as the demon rubbed its palm over the wound. When it moved its hand away, she saw the wound had healed. "I _mean_ it!" Tanya fired her grapple and drew Mia away from the demon.

"…Rowen, take me to the bridge," Mia said suddenly. Rowen glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. "He keeps coming after me, we can use that against him," she theorized.

"Allright. Everyone, hold on!" Rowen ordered. The demon opened its eyes in time to see the teleport rings form and encompass the entire party and spirit them away. It scowled and hissed.

"How can we be sure he'll even follow us?" Cale asked. Rowen looked to the sky.

"That answer your question?" he muttered and watched a large fireball travelling through the air towards the bridge. It passed through the support cables and landed on the pavement neatly. The flames vanished and revealed the black-skinned flame-haired beast. "Spread out! Surround him!" Rowen shouted and took to the air. Sage, Cale, and Sehkmet darted forth and took up positions on the bridge rails. The demon calmly spit globs of fiery liquid into its palms.

The four Ronin lunged, aiming to tackle the demon. Globes of flame formed over its palms and it tossed them underhand to either side. The fireballs struck Rowen and Cale, sending them careening of the bridge and into the waters of the bay below. The demon conjured two more fireballs and took down Sage and Sehk in similar fashion before they closed the distance.

"Yes! Still got that arm," the demon grinned and pumped a fist. Then it looked towards where Mia stood with Tanya, Dais, and Kento. "Mia, I'm not trying to hurt you. Come on, please? Let's put an end to this fighting," it beckoned with its thick claws. Dais frowned when he saw Mia take a step forward, followed by another. Her eyes looked half-lidded and dazed.

"Oh no you don't!" Kento grabbed Mia by the arm and pulled her back behind him. The demon snorted and splayed its claws, tensing to attack. It paused and looked over its shoulder and raised an eyebrow when it heard the sound of an approaching vehicle.

"You fool…what are you doing? You see a battle going on and you keep driving straight towards it! Get OUT of here! NOW!" Fire enveloped the demon's right hand and it thrust its fist in the direction of the car. Tanya's eyes widened, but the fireball struck the pavement just infront of the car instead of the car itself. The hapless driver promptly stepped on the brakes and swerved slightly before turning around and speeding back the other direction.

_He missed? Was that on purpose_? Tanya thought. The demon turned to face them.

"Just let Mia come with me, and no one else has to get hurt," it said. Dais and Kento readied their weapons. "Oh come on. You _really_ want to take on me after what I did to the others?"

"I don't quite have a handle on what's going on, but it looks to me you need to cool off, Ryo," a familiar voice spoke from the railing. The demon grunted and glanced to the side.

"Cye! You're back!" Tanya exclaimed. Cye raised his trident and took aim at the demon. Its eyes widened and it glanced behind itself, realizing the position it stood in.

"NO! Don't! You'll kill me!" it pleaded, eyes wide in what looked like genuine fear.

"That's the idea. SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" Water surged up from the bay below and arced towards the bridge. Tanya joined her swords and began spinning them.

"TYPHOON BLAST!" The water wrapped around the winds.

"MAELSTROM ANNIHILATION!" Cye and Tanya shouted in unison. The attack consumed the demon and sent it plummeting into the bay screaming. Steam hissed off of its body like lava flowing into the sea. Tanya and Cye peered over the rail and watched it plunge into the bay. The surface of the water bubbled, but from boiling rather than air.

"He's not coming back up…why isn't he coming back up?" Tanya whispered.

"I'll get him," Cye said and leapt over the railing. Tanya watched and waited anxiously and stepped back when she saw Cye burst out of the bay carrying the demon. "He sure feels heavy…and stiff," he remarked and set it down on the pavement.

"Magma flows through his veins. The water cooled it and weakened it. We need to get Kayura and Shannon over here immediately, so they can exorcise this demon," Mia said.

"You're-*_cough_* not getting me *_glurp_* that easily," the demon croaked. Rowen and the other fallen Ronin arrived in time to see the weakened demon's body hissing with steam. Black skin brightened into pale pink and red hair darkened into black. The thick claws receded into the fingertips and the fingers slimmed to their original size. The tiny white horns vanished into the scalp and the pointed ears smoothed down and shrank. Ryo-fully human once more-lay on the pavement with his eyes closed and his clothes thoroughly soaked. He started convulsing and sat up, coughing and gagging violently. He clutched his arms and shuddered.

"He's suffering from hypothermia! We gotta get him back home fast!" Sage exclaimed.

_He almost died…I…I almost killed my brother_! Tanya felt sick in her stomach.

* * *

"Easy…easy…there…Wow…I haven't seen this bad a case in _years_," Shannon remarked upon examining Ryo, who lay on the sofa. She reached for her pendant only to remember she didn't have it. She blinked and looked up when she saw something dangling close to her face.

"Sorry, Shannon. It would've worked if it hadn't been for Marcar," Tanya said sadly.

"What happened to that little skink anyway?" Kento growled angrily.

"He's dead…Ryo-Demon Ryo- killed him. I-I saw the look on his face before the end, and he was _terrified_!" Tanya stammered. Shannon clutched the pendant in one hand and placed the other over Ryo's chest. His tremors became less violent and he relaxed and closed his eyes. Shannon tied the cord around Ryo's neck. She gasped and pulled the pendant back off when she heard sizzling coming from where the cord touched Ryo's flesh.

"That won't work anymore now that the demon has migrated from his armor into his spirit." Shannon and Tanya looked to the side at Anubis as he entered the room, followed by Kayura and Michelle. Oddly enough, Michelle walked over to the sofa and knelt beside Shannon.

"…Oh wow…far out…this guy's an elemental. I've only ever _read_ about these," she remarked after placing her hand on Ryo's forehead.

"So? What's special about it?" Cye shrugged.

"Elementals are demon spirits tied to forces of nature, but the most powerful are ones linked to the four fundamental pillars: earth, air, fire, and water. This guy's a fire demon. That's why he synergizes so well with Ryo and his armor, and actually it's why he didn't die from his dunk in the bay. The demon's keeping him alive as a host," Michelle explained.

"How do we get it out?" Dais asked.

"Ryo's far too weak to withstand a full exorcism in his condition," Kayura shook her head.

"Too bad Marcar's dead. He probably knew how to control it, but that didn't help him in the end I guess," Sage muttered. Tanya furrowed her brow and hummed to herself.

"Before he died, I heard him try to say something. It sounded like 'Ar' or 'A-R'."

"Hrm…it might've been his protonym," Anubis muttered.

"What's that?"

"His true name. To know it is to have a measure of power over it, and to speak it is to command it; to a degree. I'll go through my library and see if I can find any reference to such a demon. In the meantime, I recommend keeping Ryo immersed in cold water. It will keep the demon from manifesting fully again, and as long as Ryo remains possessed, the demon will not let him die," Anubis reasoned. Shannon nodded in agreement and Kento and Dais picked up Ryo and carried him upstairs to the bathroom. They set him down in the tub and turned the cold water on full blast. Within minutes the tub filled and they shut off the valve.

"How you feel, buddy?" Kento asked. Ryo had his arms folded and shuddered.

"I-I-I'm f-f-f-kn-ng f-f-freez-ing," he stuttered.

"He'll be fine. We should probably set up a rotating watch just in case," Dais recommended.

"What I don't get…is before Marcar died, Demon Ryo didn't think twice about trying to kill civilians, but after, he went out of his way to make sure no one got hurt," Tanya commented.

"I imagine Ryo yet vies for control, but I fear unless we can expel it, it will attempt to merge fully with him, and should that happen, the Ryo we know will cease to be," Anubis said grimly.

* * *

Cye had brought up a small chair and sat next to the tub watching Ryo. Kento had taken Anubis and Michelle to their apartment to begin their research, and the Elders had headed off to resume work. Sage had taken Shannon back to the hospital and Rowen and Tanya remained downstairs. Ryo clutched his shoulders and shivered constantly. Cye hummed in concern. "Hey Ryo, you holding up okay?" Ryo let out a faint whimper. "Listen, I'm gonna head downstairs right quick and get you something to eat. Demon or not, you should keep up your strength."

"Th-th-thanks, Cye," Ryo stuttered and nodded. Cye stood up and exited the bathroom, leaving Ryo lying in the cold water. He continued shuddering and kept his eyes shut.

Water splashed onto the floor when Ryo lashed his arm up and grabbed the rim of the tub. He placed the other on the wall-mounted towel rack and pulled himself to his feet. Water dripped from his chin and the folds of his shirt. He lifted one leg out of the tub and set it on the floor before raising the other and stepping fully out of the tub. Suddenly steam erupted from his body as the remaining water evaporated quickly. Ryo tilted his head up and slowly opened his eyes.

They looked completely black, like pools of void.

* * *

"Here, I brought you a fresh pot," Michelle said and poured out a mug of steaming coffee.

"Ah, thank you," Anubis said and gratefully accepted the mug. Michelle set the pot down on a pad on the coffee table and headed back to the kitchen. Anubis raised the mug to his lips but recoiled and set it on the coaster: too hot for his liking at the moment. He decided to let it cool while he continued flipping through the pages of one of his books. He paused when he came across a wood-cut print of a lithe black figure surrounded with fire. "Prince of Flame…"

"Actually, I'm more of a duke." Anubis gasped and dropped the book on the table. He jumped to his feet and whirled around to see the bright red-orange hair and glowing red eyes with orange slit-shaped pupils. "Or a lesser lord," Demon Ryo spoke in a deeper version of Ryo's voice as he approached the table. "This fresh?" he glanced at the mug and pointed at it.

"Yes…it's also quite ho-" Anubis made a face when Demon Ryo picked up the mug and gulped it down entirely, with no apparent negative effect. He smacked his lips a few times then burped up a small cloud of steam then set the cup back down before reaching for the discarded book carefully, flipping to the page Anubis had been examining.

Anubis could tell his face wrinkled in distaste from the way one eye narrowed. "You know, I never did like that depiction of me. Makes my nose look _huge_…then again, not like this little button's any improvement," Demon Ryo frowned and tapped a claw against his nose.

"Please, I beg of you not to corrupt Ryo. He's a righteous man," Anubis pleaded.

"Ugh! What is it with you people automatically assuming I'm corrupting him? That is such a lame stereotype! I bet it's the Church's fault…I swear, those guys have no sense of humor. You make a couple of virgins projectile vomit and all of a sudden you're labeled the root of all evil…"

"I will be your host! Instead of him, take me!" Anubis offered desperately.

"Umm…no." Demon Ryo slapped the book shut then walked over to the bookcase and placed the book into an empty slot with great care. "Don't get me wrong; you got a colorful soul and all, but you're just not my type. You come off as more of a 'been there-done that' kinda guy and I've had my fill of possessing villains, even if they're retired." Demon Ryo began pacing next to the bookshelf. "You give them limitless power and what do they do? They wanna 'take over the world', and you know, it's fun at first, but after a couple centuries it starts to get boring!

"But the righteous ones…oh, now they _never_ get boring…All those subtle conflicts of desires, all those moral quandaries. Now that…_that_ keeps things interesting." Anubis glanced over his shoulder, hoping Michelle or Kento would step in on the conversation, but he couldn't risk raising his voice to get their attention. Anubis glanced back at Demon Ryo and frowned when he saw him running his hand over the bookcase, tapping the spines apparently searching for something. Demon Ryo pulled out a book and began skimming.

"He's got a great deal of respect for you, and that's why I won't kill you." Anubis drew in a sharp breath when Demon Ryo pinched a page between his claws and tugged, tearing the page out. "But I will leave you this warning: Back off." Anubis watched in horror as Demon Ryo crumpled the page and set it aflame. He dropped it on the floor and slapped his hands together before waving merrily and walking towards the open window. Anubis dove forward and frantically tried to bat the fire out and salvage the page after Demon Ryo flew off in a blaze.

"Anubis! Mia just called from the house! They got a situation!" Kento exclaimed and leaned into the room. Anubis looked up from the charred remains of the page.

"You don't say…"

* * *

"There's still time, but it's becoming harder to distinguish between personas," Anubis said.

"We need to keep the demon from retreating into the subconscious where it'd be impervious. Walking Cloud taught me a ward that might do the trick. He's got lots of experience fighting demons; that's why people in my town are so healthy," Michelle boasted.

"A lot of ancient cultures used demons to explain illnesses they couldn't treat," Rowen said.

"Actually, that's only partially true. The reason demons aren't as commonplace today isn't because of the 'miracle of modern science'," she fluttered her hands. "It's because demons feel medicine makes the soul taste icky." Rowen blinked in surprise upon being corrected so.

"Okay, we'll go grab Walking Cloud and get him to help us," Tanya stated and shrugged.

"Nuh uh. Walking Cloud has obligations to the community that precede all else. He can't just leave at the drop of a hat, even if it's an emergency," Michelle argued.

"But you just said-"

"I _said_ I know a warding ritual. Now I could probably perform it myself, I'd just need a powerful magical focus to work with," Michelle replied and tapped a finger against her lip. Shannon and Kayura frowned and glanced at their respective artifacts, wondering if they could lend their use to the young shaman. Mia stood off to the side listening in on the conference.

"…I think I might have something."

"Mia, I can't believe you could be so irresponsible," Anubis scolded as they gathered in Mia's bedroom and waited for Mia to search through her dresser drawers. "As to keep the Heart of the Ancients-an artifact that destroyed Talpa himself-with your…unmentionables."

"Anubis, as diabolical as the Dynasty can be, even they wouldn't stoop to rooting through a woman's clothes," Mia countered and retrieved the object she'd been searching for.

"…*_sigh_* the sad thing is, she's probably right," Anubis muttered. Mia turned around and walked over to Michelle. She cupped her hands and held them up for Michelle to see the item.

"This is called the Jewel of Life. It helped us save Ryo once before and maybe it can save him again." Mia explained and placed the talisman into Michelle's hands. The young shaman studied it before closing her eyes and speaking in a language that sounded more mysterious than Thangien. The talisman sparkled faintly then Michelle carefully looped the cord around her neck.

"What did you say?" Shannon asked, bewildered.

"I asked permission to use its power. It said 'yes'," Michelle chirped.

"Okay, we have what we need. We just need to lure the demon into the trap. I'll be coming along," Mia said matter-of-factly. The others gave her surprised glances. "Don't look at me that way! He could've easily killed me at the university, but he didn't really hurt me…he just tried to bite me," Mia pulled away her shirt collar to display the blistering scratches.

"Yikes! That's one heck of a love bite," Shannon remarked.

"He also kept using some power to hypnotize me, both at the university and the bridge."

"Sounds like his charm power. Demons are masters of seduction. He could've infected you with his essence and turned you into a demon thrall, or half-demon like himself," Kayura said.

"Well we can't just attack him head on, since he kicked the crap out of four of us at the bridge. How do we weaken him?" Tanya brought up. Rowen scratched his chin and hummed.

"Isn't there a food processing plant at the docks?"

* * *

Demon Ryo sprang from roof to roof fast enough to avoid being seen by civilians milling about below. He grinned, exalting in his freedom and strength as he bounded through the city. Something hotter than adrenaline burned in his veins, and as fast as he ran, the rushing wind did not cool his blood. He came to a stop and turned around, raising an eyebrow. He raised his nose to the wind and sniffed briefly before baring his fangs and hissing in delight.

Mia stood alone on the roof and rubbed her arms anxiously. She didn't want to feel nervous and risk betraying any of their plans and took several deep breaths to calm herself. "If you wanted to arrange a date, you could've called." Mia whirled around when she heard the familiar voice and saw Ryo: normal, human Ryo. He smiled and took a step towards her.

"No! No tricks! No deception! Show me as you really are!" Mia demanded.

"Ooh? Okay then," Ryo nodded and rolled his shoulders. The transition happened so smoothly, Mia found it unsettling. Demon Ryo grinned and took another step towards her.

"No charming either!" she warned and pointed what looked like a plastic pistol at him.

"Oh please!" Demon Ryo chuckled richly. "You really think you can hurt me with tha-AACK!" he recoiled when a stream of water struck him in the face, followed by another. "OW! OW! STOP IT! OW! Man! You play dirty!" he complained and raised his arms to shield himself.

"Hands in your pockets. Now," Mia ordered.

"Okay! Okay! Yeesh…" He raised his hands briefly then slipped them into his pockets.

"That's better…now, I'm hoping I'm getting through to Ryo-the _real_ Ryo. If you can hear me, please Ryo, don't stop fighting this thing. You're a strong person!"

"Um…Mia, I can hear you just fine. It's not nearly as bad as it looks." Demon Ryo shrugged and placed his hands on the back of his head. "You have no idea how good this feels…"

"Hands!" Mia raised the water pistol and Demon Ryo promptly slipped his hands back in his pockets. "I'm going to assume that's the demon talking, because the Ryo I know is a very considerate, noble person." Mia turned around and clasped her hands together. "And he would never give himself over to darkness, no matter what." Demon Ryo looked puzzled.

"Wow, you do _not_ let people talk, do you? It's always 'blah blah, we have to do this'," he began making a flapping motion with one hand. "'blah blah, we have to work together'."

"That's _not_ what I sound like!" Mia protested and whirled around.

"Pfft, yes it is," Demon Ryo snorted.

"Ooogh! You fiend!" Mia kicked him in the shins sharply. Demon Ryo yelped and clutched his injured leg. Mia kept the water pistol trained on him and waited for him to recover.

"Yeowch! Is this because I bit you? Because if you're not ready, I can respect your personal space," he winced and put his hands back in his pockets. "Look, I appreciate all the concern you guys have over me, but it's starting to get kinda pathetic." Mia said nothing and turned around.

"No, Ryo. It isn't pathetic. It's a diversion, and I'm sorry I have to do this to you." Demon Ryo frowned upon hearing that then looked over his shoulder when he heard footsteps.

"Anubis! I thought I told you to back off!" he snarled and turned around. He glanced back at Mia and scowled when he saw Cale carrying her to the neighboring rooftop.

"And so you did, but you must understand: Ryo went through incredible lengths to bring me back from the darkness. I can do no less by him," Anubis stated firmly.

"I'm heart-warmed by your sentiments, but I don't need help from anyone!"

"Now, I have to ask myself: am I talking to Ryo? Am I talking to Demon Ryo? Or am I talking to the fire demon, Prince of Flame: Arnurhazaedron!" Anubis shouted. Demon Ryo winced as if someone had suddenly garroted him. He squeezed his eyes shut and curled his claws. "You should have killed me when you had the chance, but I imagine part of Ryo defied you. Did you honestly think I would not remember every sentence, every word in every book of my collection, Arnurhazaedron?" Demon Ryo flinched once more from an unseen blow. "I command you: Leave Ryo's body! I cast you out, Arnurhazaedron!"

"Did you _really_ memorize all your books?" Sage asked as he walked over to Anubis.

"He tore out the page with the name…he forgot the appendix," Anubis smirked.

"…No…I…I won't…I've waited too long…I can't give up now!" Demon Ryo croaked.

"He shouldn't be doing this…" Anubis whispered to himself, troubled by the resistance.

"NO!" Demon Ryo roared and threw his arms to the sides. "ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!"

"That shouldn't have happened!" Anubis shouted wide-eyed.

"Well it just did!" Sage exclaimed. A fully-armored Demon Ryo turned to face them.

"You want me so bad; I won't go down without a fight!" he bared his fangs, hissing angrily

"But you _will_ go down," a voice spoke from below. Demon Ryo gasped and looked down when several blades sliced through the roof and cut a hole right under him. He dropped down into a large spacious interior and landed on the floor neatly. He looked up and saw Dais and Sehkmet clinging to the ceiling. They waved at him before slipping out through the hole.

"You think _this_ will stop me?" Demon Ryo snarled and surveyed his surroundings. His eyes widened when he noticed the large marked tanks along the walls. "…um…that might do the trick. Fine! If I go down, he comes with me!" he threatened then closed his eyes. "What? Wha-I-I can't change back!" He glanced at his claws. "No! NO! What have you done to me?"

Outside on the roof, Rowen, Cye, and Kento had deposited Kayura, Michelle, and Shannon. Kayura chanted in the tongue of the Ancients, and Shannon joined her with Gaelic. Michelle held the Jewel of Life in her raised palm and waved her hand through the air: uttering in the enigmatic language of the Navajo. Demon Ryo shrieked in rage and leapt towards the hole.

"Oh no you don't!" Tanya swung inside and kicked him back down, sending him crashing onto the floor. "As fussy as my brother can be, I'll take regular Ryo over Demon Ryo any day! Sit tight and cool off, Arnurhazaedron!" Tanya shouted and fired her blades at the large tanks. Clear fluid began spilling out onto the floor, and thick white vapor erupted from whatever it came in contact with. Demon Ryo struggled and glanced all around as the vapor closed in around him, but Tanya's command coupled with the Mystic's chant kept him rooted in place.

"No! Please! No!" he roared in the deep voice of the demon.

"A demon pleading for mercy, how pathetic," Tanya laughed then fired her grapple at the ceiling and pulled herself up before the vapor enveloped Demon Ryo. The air hissed and fogged and the vapor billowed high enough to come within inches of her feet. She curled up, pulling her legs away from the cloud. "Yikes, this shit's cold even when you're _not_ touching it…" she dangled by the grapple line and waited for the fog to subside. She frowned when she saw an arm reach up briefly through the cloud before dropping back out of sight. It _looked_ human…

Growing impatient, Tanya managed to unsheathe both Windblade Daggers with her free hand and joined them together awkwardly. She spun them and blew away the remains of the vapor. The tanks had emptied themselves of liquid nitrogen and remnants of vapor drifted up from the holes. The fog dispersed, revealing a floor covered with a thin layer of ice and a fallen Ryo. Tanya disengaged her grapple line and dropped to the floor. The floor crunched under her boots as she stepped towards Ryo's still form. Ice covered his armor and his face looked sickeningly pale, but not the pitch black of the demon. "Don't touch him!" Shannon warned as Cye carried her into the building and landed on the floor. "I have to replenish his power," she said and crouched beside Ryo. She clutched the Ronin Cross in one hand and held the other over him.

Rowen and Kento ferried Kayura and Michelle inside and they watched anxiously while the ice melted from Ryo's armor and his skin took on a healthier tone. He groaned softly and slowly opened his eyes. Kayura pointed the Staff at him. The rings hung idle. "Clean and demon-free. Welcome back, Ryo," she said cheerfully. Ryo smiled weakly and sat up shakily.

"He shouldn't have been able to do that…" Back on the roof, Anubis muttered to himself. Sage raised an eyebrow and walked closer to him. "He shouldn't have been able to resist…"

"What are you talking about? He shouldn't have been able to what?" Sage asked.

"He shouldn't have been able to resist a direct command like that…unless…"

"Unless what? Anubis? Unless what?" Sage pressed. Anubis glanced at him, looking worried.

* * *

Sage found Ryo on the balcony overlooking the driveway. "Hey Ryo? Feeling allright?"

"Hmm? Yeah. I slept myself out after all that. I think I've set a record for injuries sustained in a single day. I got beat up _twice_ by Tanya, then I got shot in the neck, then dumped in the bay, then stuck in a tub of ice water, then doused with liquid nitrogen," he counted off on his fingers.

"Yah, you had it pretty rough…" Sage walked over to the railing and stood beside him. "…You know, after the battle, Anubis told me something very interesting…and unsettling… He said the only way the demon would've been able to resist the command to leave the host body…was if it had already partially merged, and the only way that could've happened so fast…was if the host had allowed it; willingly." He didn't want to outright accuse Ryo, merely gauge his reaction. From where he stood, he could see regret and sadness in Ryo's face.

"…I can't make any excuses for the things I did while that thing was inside me…All I can do now is be glad it's gone; for good." With that, he turned around and headed inside solemnly.

* * *

"What a mess! 'Angels in Armor'! Too bad we don't know their real identities so we can sue them for all this damage," a worker grumbled while he labored with his companions to clean up the floor. "Hey, wanna go for drinks when we finish?" The other workers except one voiced their agreement. "What about you?" The worker being addressed kept his back turned.

"I'm fine. I'll pass," he replied simply and continued cleaning. His fellows did not see his eyes; black like pools of void. Nor did they see an image shifting about in the thin sheets of ice like that of a lithe black figure with burning red eyes and a thick flaring red mane.


	20. Pairing of Bloods

Pairing of Bloods

By Mardrena

"So who are we missing?" Ryo asked and paced about the yard, clad in full armor along with the ornamental surcoat. Cye and Tanya stood close by, also fully armored.

"Rowen's picking up Roxi and Brit from the cabin. Sage went to fetch Anubis and Michelle, and Kento's getting Kayura and the Elders. Shannon's driving herself over and Yulie said he's on his way after he gets the okay from his parents," Cye-also wearing his surcoat-answered. Ryo glanced to the side when Mia emerged onto the lawn. She wore a simple short dress and had her hair bound with a pale pink ribbon. He'd wanted so much to talk to her, but then they got the summons from Thanged. Now wasn't the time to dwell on his own problems: this was Dais' day.

He turned back around when he heard the hum of multiple teleport rings. Rowen materialized arm in arm with Roxi and Britania, followed by Sage with Anubis and Michelle. Shannon drove up in her car at the same time as Kento arrived with Kayura and the other Elders in tow. Since a Pairing didn't require the use of bridesmaids, the girls wore their own outfits with Brit in a pale yellow dress with a white lace vest, Shannon in a green sleeveless top and short skirt, and Roxi in leather pants and a studded shirt reminiscent of westerns. Kayura wore a more festive version of her Ancient's robes and Michelle wore a beige dress decorated with beads.

"So? The man of the day feeling nervous?" Kento threw a grin over his shoulder at Dais.

"Nervous? Me? Psh. Why should I feel nervous over a simple ceremony?" Dais scoffed.

"He's totally nervous, you can tell," Cale snickered and jabbed him in the ribs.

"I know I'm nervous," Michelle commented, wiggling slightly. "Ancient peoples had stories about journeying to other realms, and now here I get to visit an entirely different world myself!"

"You're not the only one who seems excited," Anubis remarked and looked down at Whiteblaze as he padded over to Ryo. "Whiteblaze wasn't permitted to accompany us on our first sojourn, so it's only fair for him to join us on this occasion."

"That reminds me…hey, Blackblaze! You sure you don't wanna tag along?" Ryo asked. The Nether Tiger sat by the front door with his tail tucked around his hind legs neatly.

"C'mon! I'm sure you'll enjoy it! You'll probably get the same celebrity treatment as Whiteblaze," Rowen added. Blackblaze snorted dismissively and settled down for a nap.

"I guess that's his way of agreeing to be designated house-sitter," Kayura chuckled.

"Hey guys!" Those gathered looked up to see White Wind come in for a landing in the driveway. "If I told Mom I was going to a wedding but not that it's on another planet, is that lying?" Yulie asked and walked White Wind over to the group.

"Yulie, what the heck are you wearing?!" Ryo exclaimed. "You can't go dressed in _that_!"

"What? Why not? You guys get to wear _your_ armor!" Yulie protested.

"That's because we're _Morind de Witheren_," Kento stated matter-of-factly.

"C'mon, you don't wanna upset Danae's family by dressing improperly," Cye reasoned.

"I don't care where that getup came from; go change into something formal," Ryo ordered.

"Oh fine!" Yulie huffed and tugged the embossed leather chest plate. The white leather and chainmail armor vanished, revealing a neat black tuxedo. Yulie stuffed a gleaming white pearl in his pocket and sulked in the saddle. "Don't laugh. Mom made me wear it," he grumbled and folded his arms over his chest. Some of the guys muffled snickers.

"Okay. If everyone's good to go, stand close and make sure you make a complete circuit. You have to maintain physical contact for the group teleport to work," Rowen explained. Everyone joined hands starting with Mia grabbing Yulie's right hand and ending with Ryo holding Yulie's left. Ryo glanced across White Wind's shoulder at Mia, but she seemed to be looking at something else. White Wind glanced from side to side then at Sage.

"Don't even think about it," Sage growled and leaned away. White Wind twitched his ears then shrugged and raised his wings slightly. The blades began glowing one at a time.

"So…you've done this before?" Michelle asked and eyed the Pegasi.

"Well…um…no, but White Wind knows how."

"As long as you don't go scattering our protons across the four corners of the universe, or whatever…" Britania grimaced and flexed her fingers around an instrument case of some sort.

"Oh please…this isn't science fiction," Yulie grumbled. The final pair of wing blades flared and within seconds the travelers found themselves under the light of two suns and knee-high in thick grass. Yulie promptly dismounted and gave White Wind a solid pat on the shoulder. Mia raised an eyebrow when she noticed a curious set of bulges covered with canvas slung over the saddle, but before she could ask or get a good look, the Pegasi took to the air.

"Great… he dropped us in the middle of nowhere…" Cale groaned in dismay.

"No, that's intentional. Come on," Ryo beckoned the others to follow. Those who'd only ever heard second-hand information about the exotic world exchanged wary glances before trudging up the bluff. Ryo paused at the crest and placed his hands on his hips then grinned as the others shared the staggering view of a vast city stretching as far as the eye could see.

"That's…definitely an eye-opener…" Sehkmet muttered. Shannon pulled a small camera out of her purse and clicked off a few shots. The party headed down the slope towards the main gates, which were not staffed with human guards this time.

"Oh wow! Big Goldies!" Britania remarked upon seeing the pair of fully-grown Fyrhundi.

"You know, I'm kinda glad we decided to leave him at the cabin. Poor guy would get bullied around by all these big ones," Roxi commented.

"RyoTakin! I saw White Wind flying overhead and knew you all had arrived!" Azuro called out and jogged down the street towards them as they entered the city proper. "Only DaiTakin has ever visited our home, so I will guide you through the streets. I am glad you all were able to attend," Azuro scanned the group but frowned abruptly. "ShaTakin, I do not see your father."

"He _wanted_ to come! He really did, but he just couldn't clear his schedule on such short notice. Mom's still on tour in North America too," Shannon admitted. Danae's family had extended invitations to the O'Connors, Charles in particular due to his efforts in saving her life.

"Aiiee…I suppose it is to be expected with a healer of his renown…what of your cousin?"

"Oh, nope. No. Shainie's mom still has her on a whirlwind tour of the world and all that…"

"Wait, I thought you said-" Sage began, but Shannon drove her elbow into his stomach with enough force to send him into a violent coughing fit, despite armor.

"Most unfortunate…I think she would have liked to see Bainshaebo…" Azuro sighed.

"Yup. It sucks. But, I did bring my camera along, if you guys don't object," Shannon displayed her camera and grinned. Azuro nodded in approval and motioned for the others to follow. The visitors were greeted with all the enthusiasm of royalty by those they passed.

"CHIAJE!" Ryo blinked and took a step back when several Thangien children ran over and gathered around Whiteblaze. A couple of them clambered onto his back, fawning over him. More children arrived as they resumed walking, and by the time Azuro led them to the sprawling manse of the House of St'lur, no less than a dozen children clung to the tiger's legs: so much so, he arrived last among the group, staggering step by step.

"Allright, allright. Move along kids, vethu vethu," Rowen scolded and shooed the children away. "You're smothering him." The children slowly clambered off, pouting and whimpering. "You can play with Chiaje later," Rowen assured. The children cheered and rejoiced as they ran off, and Whiteblaze glanced at Rowen, looking torn between gratitude and dismay.

"I suppose it's a good thing Blackblaze declined to attend. He would've devoured the lot of them," Anubis grinned, amused by the sight of children tugging at Whiteblaze's cheeks.

"And so, it is on this most joyous of days," the visitors snapped to attention when they heard a soft female voice speak. "That I am able to see all ten Morind de Witheren with my own eyes," the elderly matriarch of the House of St'lur whispered, followed by Aurora and Australa.

"Thelektukak Tyatatianta," Ryo greeted and nodded slowly.

"Ahh, well spoken Raeo Flamerider," Yainae smiled.

"Hey!" Ryo blinked when Kento all of a sudden stepped up beside him and elbowed him in the ribs. "You're not the only one who's been studying Thangien!" Ryo made a face but remained quiet and watched as Kento cleared his throat in an exaggerated manner. He closed his eyes and leaned forward slightly, waving his hand, and the words that came out of his mouth _sounded_ eloquent, but those more adeptly versed in Thangien immediately moaned.

"You just told her 'Your ancestors wore clean fresh underwear'," Rowen mumbled.

"Whaaaat? No I didn't! You're just making that up!" Kento protested.

"No we're not…" "Yes you did…" Sage had his palm against his face and Anubis rubbed the bridge of his nose. Kento blinked and glanced back and forth from his friends to the Thangiens.

"I did?" The others nodded and mumbled. "Wait a minute…lemme see…" Kento fished out a folded sheet of paper from somewhere on his person and opened it up. His eyes darted from side to side as he skimmed. "Ohh…ohh…I did…" he winced and put a hand on the back of his head. "My bad…Hey, it's still a compliment, right? Right?" he asked and glanced around.

Australa couldn't help but giggle upon seeing such an expression on her typically dour mother. Yainae glanced at her sharply and hissed softly, and Australa clasped her hands behind her back meekly. Yainae arched an eyebrow at Kento before composing herself. "There is yet time before the ceremony itself, so feel entitled to enjoying our hospitality or exploring the city..." While Yainae spoke, Aurora began leaning sideways until she leaned at almost a 90° angle.

"YuliTakin! What in Roth's Name are you _wearing_?" Yulie paused in cleaning his ears with his little finger and looked at her. Aurora stalked over to him and seized him by the arm. "Ohh, you cannot be seen clad in something so drab. Come this way. I certainly hope you brought an extra set of raiment with you…" Aurora grumbled and dragged Yulie into the estate. Yulie threw a rather large impish grin at Ryo, who scowled, but remained quiet.

"For this occasion, you will be required to shed your helms and weapons. To this end, I have set up racks inside," Yainae stated and gestured to the mansion. The Ronin and their companions filed inside and the Armor Bearers proceeded to remove their helmets and weapons, placing them into designated hooks and slots. Tanya went through the lengthy process of dismantling her launchers and Cale searched for a way to detach his claw gauntlet from his arm. Cye blinked when he saw Rowen set something against the wall. It looked wide at the base and narrow at the top, almost like a case of some kind, but before he could get a better look at it, Sage blocked the view with his surcoat. Cye raised an eyebrow, curious about what they had planned…

"Well, this is where I'll take my leave. I've got to be getting dressed myself. Everyone, do enjoy yourselves," Dais said and bowed politely before following Azuro upstairs. Yainae glanced to the side when she saw Whiteblaze and smiled at him warmly, as if greeting an old friend.

Ryo walked around the estate until he came upon the lush garden that served as the residence of the family Pegasi. "Heeey! Northern Light! How's it been?" The rainbow-colored Pegasi reared his head up and snorted disdainfully. "I know…you still think I'm a jerk. Hey listen, I got a favor to ask you. I need you to give me a lift to a place I've never been before." Northern Light tossed his head and flattened his ears. "Would you do it for a horsey snack?"

Northern Light glanced at Ryo and his eyes widened when he saw the long narrow orange object dangling from the leafy green stalks pinched between Ryo's fingers. "I understand these don't grow on Thanged…White Wind seems fond of them…" Ryo shook the carrot from side to side. He didn't think it possible for a Pegasi's lower jaw to quiver and salivate, or for the eye lenses to move, following the carrot, yet somehow Northern Light managed to do just that.

* * *

"So girls, what do you think?" Rowen asked as he, Kento, Roxi, Brit, Michelle, and Kayura lounged about the patio overlooking the garden.

"It's…it's not…it feels sorta…familiar…like it doesn't feel that different," Roxi muttered.

"It makes sense when you think about it. They're descended from humans, right?" Brit asked.

"Yup…You okay over there, Michelle?" Rowen asked when he saw her staring skyward with one hand sheltering her eyes. Michelle glanced at him then back at the sky.

"Sorry…I know it's bad for the eyes it's just…it's weird, looking up and seeing two of them there," she said before stepping away from the rail. "Are there other worlds? Like this one?"

"Here, I'll show you…" Rowen searched about the area and grabbed a bowl of fruit. He sat down and began placing fruits on the floor, starting with a rather large chorinae. "There's Thuruk 1, Fugan, Frono, Khilio, Thuruk 2, Caltin, Aguar, Fienlor, Banguk, Thanged, and Thunthen." Rowen finished arranging the fruit and pointed to where he'd placed the chorinae. "Thuruk 1-which Kento is currently devouring…" Rowen placed his knuckles on his hips when he noticed Kento gleefully sucking at the juicy fruit. "Is kinda like Sol only a bit older. The inner worlds are devoid of life, except Khilio, since life there's adapted to the solar radiation. Frono's the only planet not fried to a crisp due to its' super-dense atmosphere. In fact, the name means 'ice grave'.

"Thuruk 2 probably started out as a gas giant. Caltin's in the same boat as Fugan cuz its' thin atmosphere and proximity to Thuruk 2 makes it uninhabitable. Aguar's much different. Nearly 95% of the surface is covered in bodies of water, everything from marshes to deep oceans. There is a race of merfolk there, but they're not nearly as advanced as the Thangiens. Fienlor means 'Cat Empire', and it's home to the Fendahu, a race of primitive felines."

"So that's why people here go gaga over Whiteblaze and Blackblaze," Britania giggled.

"Banguk used to be populated by humanoids just as advanced as the Thangiens, but they were practically wiped out decades ago… there's Thanged here, and Thunthen." Rowen didn't see fit to go into detail regarding the home world of the Thangiens' sworn enemies.

"What kind of gods do they have? I haven't spent as much time around them as everyone else, but like that name Aurora said…it sounded very important," Michelle inquired.

"Oohh!" Kento interrupted Rowen before he could speak and gulped down juice before continuing. "There's four of them, and they're all women! My favorite's Eyurodin. She's the Goddess of the Forge and she guides crafters. I think Anubis called her a pistachio of Ah-thee-na and He-fist-us…" Rowen smacked his palm against his forehead and sighed. "…I don't know too much about the others. She's the only one I'm really interested in."

"Well…like Kento said, their gods seem to borrow from classical myths. Ritho is the Goddess of the Home and Hearth. She governs everything from love to family unity, and seems to have a lot in common with goddesses like Freya and Hestia. Witheren is the Goddess of Righteous War, but she's different from your archetypal war god. She sounds just as brutal as Ares, but she seems to viciously punish tyrants and criminals, sort of like Nemesis. Roth is their supreme deity, the Goddess of Victory. She seems odd considering most cultures identified their chief gods with natural forces like oceans and lighting. She's similar to Frigg and Hera in terms of power."

"So you figure Thangiens used ancient Earth mythologies to make their gods?"

"Oh definitely. Humans migrating here carried along their beliefs, and over the millennia it evolved into the current pantheon. It reflects a lot about their strong matriarchal society."

While Rowen continued explaining, Kayura sat by the wall and frowned. _I'm not entirely sure that's the case, Rowen… Being here…in person, for the first time… There is more to these goddesses than colorful imagination and creative myth._

* * *

"I can imagine Shainie'd find fifty ways to compare this to places she's been," Shannon said as she snapped pictures of the Pavilion every few paces. Sage opened his mouth, wanting to caution her against expending her film early on, but paused when he glanced at her purse and saw it bulging with dozens of rolls of extra film. Cale, Mia, Cye, and Anubis accompanied them, with Australa acting as guide. They passed by vendor stalls set up along the outermost rim of the Pavilion as the interior had been cleared to make room for countless rows of seats.

"I guess Tanya didn't feel like venturing out…last I saw she cooped herself up in one of the spare rooms upstairs," Mia commented. Cye raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.

"Now that I think of it," Cale brought up suddenly. "Sehkmet said he wanted to stay behind too…which strikes me odd considering he's never been here before. I asked him if he wanted to go sightseeing with us but all he told me was something about 'drum practice'." Cye frowned and glanced to the side when he thought he saw Sage flinch, but Sage quickly averted his gaze.

Mia gazed up at multiple pairs of poles tall enough to rival office towers. Bright white canvas stretched between them, and arrays of mirrors and lamps aimed at the surfaces. A small waist-high stage occupied the very center of the Pavilion, with sets of steps leading up from the sides and a large metal brazier burning towards the back of the top. She glanced to the side and noticed several buildings bordering the Pavilion had their walls draped with large tapestries.

"I'm seeing the same three people on each wall," Cye commented.

"I know who _that_ must be: Ander," Anubis stated and nodded towards a tapestry depicting a mighty blue-haired warrior astride a flesh-and-blood Pegacorn: sword raised high and mouth open in a battle-cry. The wings of Skybolt Sunhammer filled the sides of the tapestry, spreading out then curling up, showing his impressive span. Australa nodded fervently.

"I was not born until after his passing, but I know of him nonetheless," she sighed.

"Who's the woman in the other one?" Cale asked and pointed at the depiction of a majestic woman clad in an imperial gown with her arms outstretched. Rivers of red flowed from narrow lines in her wrists and cascaded out and down, ending in what looked like droplets, but closer inspection revealed curled-up humanoid bodies.

"She is Queen Danaetanera III: An ancestor of ours," Australa added proudly and clasped her hands behind her back. "And the greatest of the great queens that ruled before the institution of the Council of Houses. Three-thousand years ago, a mighty commander of the Thunthen came to Thanged and tried to claim it for his own. Queen Danaetanera went forth to parley and in his presence, cut her wrists." Australa drew her fingers down the side of her arm to illustrate. "She proceeded to walk along the outer wall of Bainshaebo, and for each living soul within, she shed a drop of blood. When she completed the Bloodwalk, she turned to face the commander and said: 'By my blood, have I secured the lives of my people'. She collapsed into his arms and died.

"So moved was he by her sacrifice, that against the wishes of his people, he withdrew his forces to Planet Thunthen and vowed that never again would his people raise arms against Planet Thanged. She was considered the greatest of our heroes until my father's time for securing peace. It was a peace that lasted until the death of my father…" The others went quiet for several moments until Cale glanced at the third tapestry and raised an eyebrow.

"Australa…who's that supposed to be?" he nodded at the image of a large bulky form leaning forward in a reverent bow with what looked to be long white claws splayed and a long tail ending in a spiked club curling about the legs. A beard of grayish fibers hung from the lower jaw of the blocky muzzle. A pair of horns curled up from the back of the head, and many spikes protruded from behind the shoulders and neck.

"_That_ is Das Anazhar. He was the commander who challenged Danaetanera and followed at her side during the Bloodwalk. He is the only Thunthen whose likeness is preserved with honor and the only Noble who could truly be called such…" Australa said with a mixture of bitterness and trepidation. Anubis, Cale, and Cye took the time to study the tapestry while Shannon proceeded to snap a couple more shots. Sage frowned when he heard something that sounded like his name being called and looked over his shoulder.

"Uh oh…the rest of you better go on ahead. This might take awhile," he grimaced and waved at the others before stepping away to meet the newcomer.

"SageTakin! I am glad I was able to discern you in this crowd!" an out-of-breath Khanphe came to a skidding stop and keeled over, panting heavily before gathering himself. "I wanted to submit these designs to a Morindae for approval on their accuracy…" Khanphe pulled several objects from the folds of his voluminous robes and held them out for Sage to see: half a dozen masks carved in the likenesses of various Ronin. A particularly round one caught Sage's eye.

"Yup…definitely nailed Kento there…um…listen, Khanphe, I appreciate what you're trying to do with telling our story to the people and all, but I don't think it's necessarily a good idea. No offense or anything, it's just...well…the last time someone tried to bring our story to the stage, it ended with a lot of people getting killed…horribly," Sage explained as politely as possible. Khanphe frowned and averted his gaze, looking more reflective than disappointed.

"Ahh…ignorance has ever been the black foe of the performing arts!" he hissed and swept one hand up and to the side, almost knocking Sage against the forehead. "In a sense, we are as much warriors as you. In my youth, I was blessed to have known Vai Stel Vethu, and after his passing, I dedicated my life to immortalizing him for the next _thousand_ generations!" Khanphe again made a sweeping motion with his arm, and Sage decided it best to lean away some.

"It is true that war can be cruel and ugly, but is it not even more so cruel and ugly to disregard those who bleed for the sake of the future? For them to be abhorred and forgotten, instead of revered and remembered? It is far too easy for those who do not themselves shed blood to decry the efforts made to secure the lives they so freely enjoy. That is why _I_, Orn Orn Grast, Khanphe, lead the llaudaind so that we may celebrate the fallen, with song and dance! And joyful reveling!" Sage once more had to duck to avoid getting clocked in the head. "So that those who gave of themselves-like Ander did, like you do now-are _never_ discarded.

"To allow ignorance and disdain silence the arts is far worse than any suffering incurred because of it, so I say to you: What better audience for your tale than we of Thanged, who celebrate battle! What better stage than Bainshaebo? And what better time than now?" Sage frowned thoughtfully, reflecting on the statements. Khanphe slapped him in the shoulder and jabbed finger at him. "We are to perform at the ceremony. You will not be disappointed! You will _not_ be disappointed!" the man said gleefully before running off through the crowd. Sage raised an eyebrow and the corners of his lips turned up in an amused smile.

* * *

Yulie had wandered away from Australa's tour group some time ago and wandered along the lines of stalls. Apparently wearing armor earned him free snacks from vendors and he walked alongside a wall munching on a crusty pastry glistening with sticky syrup. He finished eating and crumpled up the paper wrapping and tossed it over his shoulder.

He recoiled when something landed infront of him. "YOU!" Yulie gulped, fearing he'd committed an offense. "You saw nothing! You will not speak that you saw us!" a golden fingertip pressed against his nose and Yulie found himself staring into angry brown eyes framed by dark brown bangs. He took a step back to get a better look at the Native Thangien boy.

"Benar turil, oul peac uian, Ph'li," a blonde-haired boy with brown eyes scolded as he walked up beside the Native. "I doubt he even knows of what we speak." The boy glanced at Yulie then raised both eyebrows. "Wait…I know you…you are YuliTakin!"

"He is YuliTakin?" the Native boy squeaked and pointed at Yulie then glanced at the other boy. "He is YuliTakin?" he stammered again, glancing back and forth. "He is YuliTakin!"

Yulie studied the boys for a few moments. "…You must be T'plaureth's sons."

"Uh huh! I am Ph'li, he is Ko'li," the Native boy jerked a thumb at himself then at the blonde. "We are twins!" They said in unison. Yulie blinked several times and wrinkled his nose.

"I…I wouldn't have guessed… So…what _were_ you two doing?"

"We were on our way to Mazzan to…erm…requisition the aid of some Pegasi," Ko'li stated.

"We deemed the closing entertainment to the ceremony unfitting for the occasion…so, we decided to implement some…modifications," Ph'li added. Ko'li picked up a large bundle from where he'd set it on the ground and cradled it in his arms for Yulie to see.

"These are ribbons taken from Khanphe's scrap stores, and Eyurodin's Tears from Peirolyth. We plan to fly over the crowd and drop these from the Pegasi!"

"Oh…that sounds nice…" Yulie commented but recoiled when Ph'li leaned close.

"You do not sound terribly impressed…" he muttered and narrowed his eyes.

"It's not that…it's just…well…I kinda had my own thing planned."

"Oh? Like what?" Ko'li asked and slung the bundle across his shoulder. Yulie glanced from side to side before gesturing for the twins to follow him behind a building.

"Here, I'll show you. AIIIEEAUUUUUHHH!" Yulie cupped his hands around his mouth and uttered his own version of a Thangien war cry. Ko'li and Ph'li broke out giggling and Ph'li clamped his hands over his muzzle and wiggled his ears. They stopped when Yulie glared at them but all three looked skyward when they heard a shrill whinny and saw a white Pegasi with blue and red detailing arcing down for a landing. The twins' jaws dropped when they saw the offspring of the mighty Skybolt, who their grandfather had ridden in his life. Yulie walked over to White Wind and grabbed the corner of the sheet covering his burden and flung it back, revealing several sets of bulging burlap bags with black and red markings on the surface.

Ph'li and Ko'li exchanged grins and then glanced back at the bags. "Slian yador!"

* * *

Northern Light touched down in an extravagant courtyard and folded his wings. Ryo dismounted and patted him on the shoulder, but the Pegasi nosed him back suddenly. "Oh, right…here, you want this? Huh?" Ryo drew out the carrot and dangled it close to the Pegasi's head, tugging it just out of reach every time Northern Light tried to grab it. "Hup! Huphuphup!" Northern Light made a frustrated growl and lunged again. Ryo tossed the carrot up and watched the Pegasi rear up on his hind legs and snatch it neatly from the air. "I'll give you another one for the ride back," Ryo promised and walked away, leaving the Pegasi to snack.

He'd heard this structure referred to as the "Home of the Gods" and a "citadel-chapel". From a distance it resembled the Parthenon of antiquity, but up close revealed sharper, blockier stonework. Ryo paused when he walked past some sort of wedge-shaped monument carved from green marble and lacking in inscriptions of any sort. He raised an eyebrow then continued on his way inside. A scant few pilgrims acknowledged his presence as he passed by, but he saw no acolytes of any sort. The clack of his boots against the brick turned into a repeating echo as he entered an interior big enough to comfortably house Raurgoth-with room to spare.

Thananagreia indeed resembled a massive chapel with sconces bearing glowing crystals lighting the interior and the decorations on the walls. Four colossal stained-glass windows dominated the left wall, and a fresco big enough to give Michelangelo seizures occupied the right. Ryo turned around slowly, trying to adjust to the immense space. His gaze settled upon the first of the four windows and he took a few steps towards it.

This marked the first time he'd ever seen visual representations of the Thangiens' goddesses. Strange crescent-shaped lettering which he read loosely as "Wrawthe" ran across the top of the window. At the center stood the imposing figure of a woman clad in a combat uniform eerily similar to Danae's with high pearl-white shoulder crests and a thick gray sash crossing the chest from the left shoulder to the right hip. Silver hair draped down her back and her bangs hung close to her eyes. In her right hand she held a raised sword with a double-winged cross-guard and a forked pommel. Over her head hung an emblem of a sun overlapped by a crescent moon, and a sword in the middle. At her feet rose the dawn over a battlefield with sinister-looking forces cowering on the right near a desiccated tree and brilliantly-armored warriors defending a bountiful tree on the left. This had to be Roth, the "Queen of Triumph".

Ryo walked to the side until he came to a stop before the unsettling setting of a woman with dark red hair that poked out in all directions on the top. Clouds of deep red hues and an emblem of a heart pierced with two swords hung overhead. She wore a burgundy vest over a white shirt tucked into a black belt and brown pants tucked into high black boots reaching to just below her knees. She pointed downward with a dagger in her right hand and in her left wielded a fearsome jagged halberd. Curtains of red cascaded from the edge, flowing down towards the horde of wicked souls. This clearly earned Wuerhen-or Witheren-the moniker "Maiden of Blood".

The third window proved much easier on the eyes with Oorotin standing amid towering curtains of fire and sparks. Above her spired crown hung the emblem of an anvil crossed infront by two crafters mallets. In her left hand she held an ornate mallet, and in the right a narrow tool. Thick blue-gray gloves covered her arms up to the elbow. Straight hair of a paler gray than that of Roth's hung over her brow and down her back. She wore a gray vest over a white shirt and gray pants tucked into dark blue boots. At her feet, male and female artisans labored at anvils on either side of a building. Artisans such as Australa addressed Eyurodin as the "Lady of Flames".

Ryo continued walking and paused before the final window illustrating Rhiyo, or Ritho, the "Morning Mother"; as Danae called her. Above her head hung a large brilliant sun with rays ending in tongues of flame and many children huddled around her feet and clung to her dress. She looked much shorter than the other three goddesses and wore a simple hood over light brown hair and a bright blue shawl over white robes. A corset of linen strips encircled her waist. In her left arm she cradled a swaddled newborn and in her right she clasped the hand of a small boy. At the bottom of the window a male and female couple clasped hands and leaned close to each other. She seemed to be the only one among the Four depicted as smiling…

"This is an unexpected audience, Raeo Flamerider…" Ryo glanced over his shoulder when he heard a woman speak and saw someone approaching. She wore a long white dress and a gray shawl woven with pearls. A crown of gilded leaves circled her head and what Ryo initially thought to be a pale gray cowl, but what ended up being the woman's shimmering silvery hair-yet she looked quite young. She walked up beside Ryo and clasped her hands over her stomach.

"This was the one landmark I didn't get to visit the last time I was on Thanged…I figured I'd get a better understanding of these goddesses Danae always talks about…" Ryo turned around and walked towards the opposite wall to study the fresco. The woman followed at his side. Ryo glanced at the woman and raised an eyebrow. "Are you Roth?"

"No," the woman chuckled richly. "I speak to the people in her stead. It is never the role of the parent to be overbearing and intrusive, merely nurturing and encouraging…but as is the nature of parents, they do like to maintain contact." The woman adjusted the edges of her shawl and glanced at Ryo with glittering diamond-blue eyes. "Only once a generation is a female born with the rare natural hair color that produces silver when exposed to G'thru extract. From birth are these children designated as Handmaidens of Roth. I am to preside over the Pairing, but I am honored to be able to meet you in person beforehand and see the man behind the myth."

"Today must be very important for everyone on Thanged…" Ryo looked up at the fresco depicting the Four Queens presiding over their various domains. "Not just to celebrate a new future, but make amends for the past." The Silver-Haired Maiden tensed and bowed her head. Ryo watched her as she walked closer to the wall and stopped a few paces away from it.

"It is never an easy thing…to acknowledge one's mistakes. You tell yourself 'it was fate', or that it was 'destined to fail'. Roth never let us forget the price of our _arrogance_." The Maiden took a step to the side and looked up at the wall. "Ander's coming showed us that Oldworld had survived the nightmare from which we fled…but not until much later would we learn _how_.

"That a man would despair over being unable to save the life of his friend…and that his cry of anguish would _echo_ across the vault of stars and be heard, by the most unlikely of beings…" Ryo walked over to stand beside her and noticed the section of the fresco she stared at: two orbs streaking through a field of black pocked with pinpricks of brilliant white. The red orb seemed to be pursuing the blue, yet falling behind. "Just because a prayer goes unanswered, does not mean it goes unheard…and oftentimes, prayers themselves are answers. Quickly does the tide turn, and even a goddess can find herself humbled by the _selflessness_ of man…"

Ryo sensed the image served more of a purpose than abstract art, but before he could inquire, the sounds of distant bells reached their ears. "It is time…we both should be on our way. I will see you at the ceremony, RyoTakin," the Maiden bowed before walking towards the exit. Ryo followed a few moments later and glanced over his shoulder at Roth's window as he passed by. Something about the narrow black triangular eyes made them seem like they watched him…

* * *

"It's time! Get your things together; I'll port us over when you're ready. It's a pretty long walk to the actual seating area." Rowen held up a ceramic bowl full of small metallic buttons. "Each of you should take two of these since the service will be in Thangien." Rowen handed translators to the others. Kento took a pair and fastened one to his surcoat.

"KenTakin?" Kento paused in placing the second translator when he heard Aurora call his name. "You are to serve as urpaedwun?" Kento nodded. Aurora beckoned and walked upstairs. Kento followed until Aurora stopped outside a room and gestured inside. Kento stepped inside and saw Dais standing by a set of three mirrors. He wore a striking Thangien combat uniform tailored from burgundy fabric with gold braids and onyx accents on the shoulders and cuffs.

"Wow, someone looks sharp," Kento commented and stepped close. Dais turned to face him and smirked. "So, what am I supposed to do?" Dais held out two objects.

"It's really simple. I'm sure even you could do it." Kento snorted at that remark but held up his hands into which Dais placed an ornate dagger and a small container and a wrapped bundle. "All you have to do is hold onto this until I ask for it, then rub this stuff on my arm and wrap it."

"…That's it? That's my 'special duty'?" Kento wrinkled his nose at the small objects.

"Hey, I don't write this stuff. I'm just the guy getting hitched. Oh, Kento… thanks…for doing this," Dais muttered and scratched his ear. Kento averted his gaze and shrugged.

"Ehh…don't make such a big deal about it…I'm sure you'd do the same for me…someday…eventually…" Kento half-grumbled, earning a grin from Dais.

"Danae?" Mia asked and poked her head into the room where she found the noblewoman standing by a set of dressing mirrors wearing a lighter variation of her classic combat uniform with the dress reaching down to her ankles. Ribbons of silk and thin gloves replaced the sleeves and gauntlets and the shoulder crests looked shorter. A thin crown of silver circled her head and a large white-and-purple flower rest snugly in her hair over her right ear. "Sage ported me over. Australa said you wanted to see me before the ceremony?"

"Yes. It still weighs heavily upon my mind the events of our first encounter…"

"Oh pishposh. It's water under the bridge. You were frightened. I can't fault you for that."

"All the same, I feel it should be rectified. MiaTakin, would you serve as my _irpaerwyn_?"

"Isn't Kento already doing that?"

"No. He is urpaedwun. Irpaerwyn is…um…" Danae searched for a suitable translation.

"Like a maid of honor?" Mia provided. Danae smiled and nodded. "Umm…Gosh, I'd love to, but considering how significant today is, I'm not sure I'm best qualified. Maybe someone like Tanya or Rona would be better suited…" Mia commented meekly.

"MiaTakin." Mia flinched from Danae's stiff tone, worried she'd offended her, but Danae remained smiling. "We do not see your likeness in llaudauns, but your name is sung of no less than the Morind de Witheren. Here on Thanged we have a saying: 'the spirit is the sword', and you have the keenest I have ever seen. It would be an honor without compare to have such a mighty warrior at my side." Mia blinked, startled by the praise.

"…well…when you put it that way…Danae, I'd be happy to. What do I need to do?"

"Hand this to me when I ask for it," Danae said and placed a pristine white sheet of cloth into Mia's outstretched hand. "Then apply this to my wrist and bind it with this when called for," she added and placed a small pot and a bundled Richtho leaf into Mia's other hand.

* * *

All of Bainshaebo somehow managed to crowd into the immense field of seats set up in the Pavilion. The rows directly facing the stage were reserved for friends and immediate family, but surprisingly enough, those sitting the furthest away would still be able to view the ceremony thanks to the massive canvas screens onto which projections of the main stage were cast. The seating was divided into eight sections with two on each side of the stage radiating outward.

Yainae wowed those already seated by arriving riding sidesaddle on Whiteblaze. He conveyed her to the row reserved for the House of St'lur. She slid into her seat and rubbed the tiger's cheeks gratefully. One by one the visitors from Earth filed into their seats with the Ronin sitting in the front row and their friends behind. Rowen seated himself next to the aisle and left a seat open between himself and Anubis for Ryo, who had yet to arrive. Cye sat to the left of Anubis, followed by Cale, Sehkmet, Sage, and Tanya. Kayura took the aisle-side seat with Yulie, Shannon, Michelle, Roxi, and Britania seated to the left.

People looked up and whispered in awe as Sunbolt Skyhammer came in for a landing close to the stage and deposited his passengers: King Torke and a woman with silver-colored hair. The woman walked onto the stage and positioned herself infront of the brazier. "So…that's the Silver-Haired Maiden…Azuro said she's the one who told everyone everything about us, even though we'd never been to Thanged until Danae's return…" Rowen muttered.

A few moments after Sunbolt flew off another Pegasi flew close overhead and hovered above the front rows. A red and silver armored figure dropped down to the ground. "Heya guys. Did I miss anythi-" Ryo began but flinched and looked up when Northern Light whinnied shrilly. "Okay fine! Here," he grumbled and fished a carrot out from under his shoulder plate then hurled it with all his might. Northern Light dove after it, coming dangerously close to the heads of people sitting in the rows further back before catching it and soaring off to eat. "Good. Looks like they're just about to start…" Ryo glanced over his shoulder and frowned. "Where's Mia?"

"She should be arriving shortly," Anubis replied and nodded towards the stage. The Maiden stepped to the side out of the way of the teleport rings that manifested close to the brazier. Kento arrived on the stage with Mia in tow and hastily stepped away when he realized how dangerously close his surcoat dangled to the flames. He moved to the right side of the stage while Mia took a spot on the left. She looked nervous and wrung a white cloth in her hands.

"What's she doing up there?" Ryo asked softly, looking worried.

"I understand Danae asked her to serve as cloth-bearer," Anubis simply replied. Ryo hummed and glanced back at Mia. She gazed out at the immense crowd, but not once did they lock eyes.

A rattling echo drew the attention of those seated closest to the aisle to the rear of the seating block. Dozens of llaudaind stood in formation, fully costumed in the wooden masks and cloth-strewn armor of seasoned performers. They each wielded wide banners affixed to metal rods and began thumping the blunt ends against the pavement.

Shannon had to crouch up in her seat to get a good angle with her camera as the performers launched into a complex routine of sweeping their banners up and around, every so often thumping the ground in a steady rhythm. The network of projection screens managed to capture the display for those unable to see firsthand. Just when the visitors didn't think it possible to be wowed any further, by some hidden art, the banners began changing colors as the routine reached a climax. The performers concluded by smiting the pavement with the tips of their banners, and before the visitors could applaud, the banners furled up and parted to either side.

The last pair of banners parted to reveal Dais and Danae walking down the aisle: side by side as equals. No music preceded their arrival and their gazes remained fixed on the stage. They didn't even glance at their friends and relatives when they passed by and separated, walking up opposite stairs to the stage. Dais took a position close to Kento, and Danae positioned herself next to Mia. The audience went quiet and the Silver-Haired Maiden stepped forward.

"Long has it been since we have celebrated a Pairing between one of Bainshaebo and one of Oldworld…and yet, are we not all Oldworlders? Do we not all share the same history, the same blood? This day marks not merely a union between Thangien and Ronin Warrior, or Thanged and Oldworld, but between two kindred souls who have endured much and triumphed: as their fathers did before them." Dais flicked a brief glance at the Maiden, surprised by the remark. The Maiden took a couple steps to the side and beckoned with one hand. "RyoTakin, if you would."

"Huh?" Ryo blinked and raised both eyebrows.

"She wants you to say a few words," Rowen leaned over and whispered.

"WHAT?! No one told me they wanted me to give a speech! What am I supposed say? I would've prepared something if I'd known!" Ryo exclaimed.

"Oh just shut up and get up there," Anubis growled and shoved Ryo in the shoulder. Ryo slowly made his way onto the stage. The Maiden unfastened something from a chain about her neck and handed Ryo what looked like an iridescent marble mounted in a coil of gold wire.

"Um, thanks," Ryo whispered and rubbed the back of his head. "I can't say that I've done this sort of thing before…-is this thing on?" Ryo frowned when he couldn't hear his voice broadcasting and gave the marble the tiniest of taps. Apparently that proved sufficient to send piercing feedback echoing from the projection arrays' speakers. Thousands of people covered their ears. Ryo grimaced apologetically, and heard Tanya call him something unrepeatable.

"Ahh…well…You know, Dais wasn't always the nicest of guys. He used to be kind of a real jerk." Dais chuckled softly and smiled. "I think out of the four Dark Warlords, he gave us the hardest time next to Anubis." Anubis smirked and folded his arms over his chest. Ryo glanced at Mia, but her attention remained on the audience. "…It's too easy, sometimes, to fall into the trap of clinging to the old grudges. To become so blinded by a need for justice, that you refuse to even consider the chance of redemption." Kento bowed his head and closed his eyes.

"I've heard it said by Thangiens that 'forgiveness can only be earned'. We don't like to believe that people can fall too far to be caught, but sometimes there are those that let go completely…and there are those who possess the rare perseverance to cling to their true selves. They pull themselves back from the brink, against all odds. Thangiens celebrate battle, but battle isn't always fought on the field, and not always with swords. And forgiveness…is seldom ever given." Ryo glanced once more at Mia, frowning wistfully as she kept her gaze down.

"…The greatest proof of victory over evil doesn't come from the scars we carry, or the stories we share. It comes from these people, right here," Ryo held a hand out to Dais and Danae. "That they could come from entirely different worlds-different times, even-and find comfort in each other. They have found their purpose…and definitely their passion." A ripple of amusement rose from the crowd. "From them, we can truly understand; there is beauty in the battlefield…" Ryo flicked a glance at Mia, who looked in his direction. For the briefest of moments, their gazes met.

A roar of applause rose from the audience, and Dais and Danae smiled gratefully. "Slian yador RyoTakin," the Maiden complemented and gestured for Ryo to return to his seat. He handed the microphone back to her and stepped off the stage. The Maiden reattached the coil to her necklace and waited for Ryo to seat himself before speaking again. "On this day, by the grace of the Four Queens, we shall celebrate the Pairing between Danae Stormrider and Darian Dreamrider. In flesh and blood will they be joined; from now until the end of all things. If one among you would deem their union invalid, voice now your complaint, or henceforth be sile-"

The Maiden paused and blinked in confusion upon hearing a loud outburst of hysterical bawling coming from the front row. Those sitting close to the aisle leaned forward and looked towards the left. Cye looked very much embarrassed, and Tanya wrinkled her nose in disgust. Sage buried his face in his palm and Cale patted an uncontrollably-sobbing Sehkmet in the arm. "There there. It'll be allright," Cale soothed. Tears streamed from Sehkmet's eyes and he babbled incoherently. He reached to the left and grabbed a hold of one of the straps hanging from Sage's shoulder plate and promptly blew his nose in it; despite Cale's cape being closer.

"NO! NO! STOP! STOP!" Sage exclaimed and swatted at Sehkmet repeatedly. The Maiden observed the scene for a few moments before resuming the ceremony.

"Step forward." At her command, Dais and Danae moved close to the Maiden until they stood facing each other. "Darian Dreamrider. Will you join yourself to Danae Stormrider in flesh and blood? Will you bleed for her, and with her, from now until you bleed no more?"

"I will," Dais replied firmly and pulled back his right sleeve. The Maiden looked to Danae.

"Danae Stormrider. Will you join yourself to Darian Dreamrider in flesh and blood? Will you bleed for him, and with him, from now until you bleed no more?"

"I will," Danae said solidly and pulled off the glove covering her right arm. She raised her right arm, as did Dais, and they clasped hands. Dais reached back with his left hand and gestured for the dagger. Kento remembered his duty and placed it into Dais' waiting palm.

When Kento heard being urpaedwun meant "dagger-bearer" he didn't at all imagine it involved what he witnessed next. Dais and Danae kept their gazes locked as Dais placed the tip of the dagger against Danae's right wrist and pulled towards himself sharply.

The other Ronin and their friends gasped in shock. Cye drew his legs under his seat when a few droplets landed close to his feet. Kayura reached to the left, intending to cover Yulie's eyes, only to find that the boy had snuck away at some point. Mia clamped a hand over her mouth, horrified by the sight. Kento swallowed hard to keep himself from getting sick on stage.

"SEE HOW THEY BLEED THE SAME BLOOD!" The Silver-Haired Maiden raised her arms with her palms facing the sky. Dais and Danae held their right arms out towards the audience and clenched their fists. The trickle became a steady dribble, and the growing puddles on the ground began creeping towards each other. "BY BLOOD DO WE ENTER THIS WORLD, AND BY BLOOD DO WE DEPART!" Sure enough, the pools looked indistinguishable from each other as they began to merge. "FOR THOSE WHO BLED BEFORE US: IN DEATH WE FIND RESOLUTION. IN DEATH WE FIND DAMNATION. IN DEATH WE FIND REBIRTH. IN DEATH WE FIND SALVATION!"

Anubis glanced to the right when he heard a soft cry. He spotted Yainae watching tearfully, apparently remembering when she and Ander themselves bled so many years ago. He frowned sadly, sorely wishing he could remember his wedding. He glanced over his left shoulder at Michelle. She noticed him and smiled back warmly. He had her to build new memories with...

_Even their marriage customs involve blood…_ Cye scowled sullenly.

"It's fitting for them, don't you think?" Cale spoke up suddenly. Cye glanced at him and raised an eyebrow. "For the two of them-who both grew up amid conflict, and suffered much-to have found themselves amid the chaos. It suits them, as warriors, to give as they do for others." Cye frowned, reflecting on Cale's words. For today's sake, he decided to put aside his distaste.

If Dais and Danae suffered any ill effects from so much bleeding, neither of them showed it as they clasped hands again. Danae reached out with her left hand and Mia quickly gave her the white cloth. Danae brought it forward and draped it over their wrists. Dais reached down and grabbed the other end and the two began binding their wrists, exchanging tips with each pass.

"For hearth and home," Dais whispered.

"For love of land," Danae began.

"Sword and spirit."

"Forged in hand."

"Souls are found."

"By blood and bound."

"My heart to you, my love alone."

"Blood is linked, both are one."

"It is done," they said in unison and pulled the cloth tight. They held the corners taut and waited silently as red consumed the cloth until not a trace of white remained. Then they un-wrapped the cloth and shook it loose. The Maiden took the cloth by two corners with both hands and pulled it away. Dais held his still-bleeding wrist towards Kento, who dug two fingers into the small pot and pulled out a large glob of yellowish goo and slathered it over the cut before binding it with a Richtho leaf. Mia likewise bandaged Danae's wrist.

The Maiden held the cloth up for the audience to see and turned it from side to side. Ryo saw Rowen lean towards him and cocked his ear to listen. "She's gonna drop it into the fire behind them. Thangiens believe the size of the flame produced is an indicator of the future of the first child, but it's just a chemical reaction caused by impurities in the-" Rowen whispered as the Maiden turned and held the sodden cloth over the brazier and released the corners.

A large eruption of flame forced her to stagger back a step and throw her arms up to shield herself. Shock rippled through the crowd, and Mia could tell from the way the Maiden stared at the flame that this was an unprecedented reaction. The Maiden drew herself back up and watched the flames gradually subside before gathering her wits and turning to face the crowd.

The crowd remained silent as she began singing. Ryo glanced to the side when he noticed Rowen fishing the translator out of his ear, apparently wanting to hear the hymn as it was meant to be heard. Ryo followed his example, and gradually, so did the other visitors. The Silver-Haired Maiden's voice echoed across Bainshaebo as she uttered the enchanting melody. Ryo faintly discerned the words "Vai Stel Vethu". The Maiden closed her eyes and shook her head slowly as she continued singing in Thangien. The hymn brought even Kento to the verge of tears. Dais and Danae stood close and bowed their heads together. The audience remained silent, utterly enraptured until the final note died away.

The Maiden opened her eyes and smiled before stepping to the side. "Vedar viltaag tuv nucan," she said and nodded at the two. Dais reached up and cupped Danae's chin in his palm.

"Go on! Kiss her already!" Rowen cheered. Dais raised a finger, motioning for them to be patient. He leaned close to Danae and their lips touched. The Ronin cheered and clapped softly.

Dais wrapped his arms around Danae and turned her around and tipped her over, and at that, the crowd went wild. The other Ronin shrieked their jubilation and rose from their seats, followed by the rest of the audience. Whiteblaze offered his shoulder to Yainae as she stood. The rest of the House of St'lur rejoiced with echoing cries. Kento smiled and watched the happy couple as Dais pulled Danae back up and held her close. Danae laughed richly from the antics.

Ryo clapped passionately along with the other Ronin, but paused when his gaze strayed from the newlyweds to Mia. She looked so happy, and almost wistful. She slowly started to look in his direction, but a series of shrill whinnies drew everyone's attention skyward.

Ph'li rode a young red Pegasi with gold and silver detailing, and Ko'li rode a blue colt with silver and white. Between them rode Yulie astride White Wind. Yulie drew his sword and stabbed it into the burlap sacks strapped to White Wind's rump on either side. White Wind threw his head back and whinnied merrily and made strong sweeping strokes with his wings. Ph'li and Ko'li grabbed bundles of objects and flung them up into the air.

Much unlike her more bloodthirsty counterpart, Eyurodin's Tears proved to be those of mirth and exploded into glittering prismatic showers. Tiny bits of colorful cloth and coils of ribbons showered the stage and central seating area, along with white grains. The flapping of the Pegasi's wings scattered the festive rain far and wide as they flew high above the aisle. Danae giggled and tried to shelter her eyes as she turned around and reached for the flower in her hair.

"Oooh! I think she's gonna toss the bouquet!" Britania exclaimed. Tanya made a face and looked over her shoulder upon hearing that.

"I don't see how a single flower counts as a bouquet-oof!" Tanya flinched when she felt something soft and slightly damp smack against her cheek. She cupped her hands in time to catch the white-and-purple bloom that tumbled into her palms. She stared at it a few seconds before yelping and tossing the flower up as if it burned, recoiling in surprise.

* * *

The populace emptied out of the seats to make way for thousands of tables. Dais and Danae stood with the House of St'lur members while the Ronin headed towards the outer edge of the Pavilion. "Kento, what in the bloody hell are you doing?" Cye asked as he watched his friend plucking grains of rice out of his hair with great care and placing them into his cupped palm.

"Hey, this stuff doesn't grow on Thanged. I figure I can get at least a serving's worth from me alone. Say…you wouldn't mind-" Kento glanced at Cye slowly.

"YES I WOULD MIND!" Cye squawked and recoiled.

Shannon and Roxi chatted about the day's events with Rowen, Sage, Ryo, Mia, and Britania following close behind. All of a sudden a low rumble drew their gazes skyward.

"That was thunder…" Sage stated.

"Whoa! I can't say I've seen a cloud formation like that!" Roxi exclaimed when she saw the overcast hanging like spikes overhead.

"They call it caevas, or 'cave-ceiling'," Rowen informed. "It's caused by opposing layers of moisture scrunching up against each other, like this." Rowen illustrated by clenching his surcoat.

"Oh of all the bad luck! Right on Dais and Danae's wedding day!" Britania moaned.

"Actually, Thangiens believe rain after a Pairing is a sign of good luck. It's considered a blessing of fertility from Ritho," Mia explained.

"Yeah…it's looking like she's fixin' to dump a boatload of blessing all over everyone," Ryo grimaced when another peal of thunder echoed over the city. No sooner did he finish saying that then did everyone find themselves being pelted with sheets of heavy rain.

"OOOHHOOHOO!" "WHOOEEEE!" "OH BOY!" The girls exclaimed and tried to cover themselves. Ryo began to pull off his surcoat, intending to offer it to Mia, but stopped when he saw Sage holding both sides of his own surcoat up with his elbows, using it to shelter Shannon and Mia. Ryo sighed and tugged his surcoat back into place, letting the rain fall unhindered.

Workers all over the Pavilion hastened to erect a massive network of interlocking tents. The Ronin and their friends established themselves across three tables. The Armor Bearers sat at one table while Tanya elected to sit at another with Mia, Danae, Yainae, Roxi, Shannon, Brianna, Kayura, and Michelle. Yulie sat with Ph'li and Ko'li and the rest of the House of St'lur. Servers distributed huge tureens of heavenly-smelling soup and dishes heaped high with fruit across the tables, along with crystal decanters filled with violet-colored liquid.

While he waited for the food to arrive, Kento glanced at Tanya, who slouched in her chair at the girls' table. She turned the bloom about with her fingers and scoffed at the notion of her ever finding a man worthy of her attentions. The proximity of the tables allowed him to listen.

"The tradition you speak of does exist here, but it is regarded much differently than what you describe," Yainae spoke up and leaned over the table, reaching out to Tanya's arm. "It is believed that whomever catches the bloom _is_ destined to find love in the near future, but only after much trial, and a great harrowing." Tanya glanced at her then back at the flower.

"Pfft. I'm a Ronin Warrior. My life is nothing _but_ trial and harrowing."

"You should not dismiss the possibility. Oftentimes, the strongest pairs are those deemed most unlikely. Can it be said that anyone anticipated the union of Ander and Yainae? Or myself and Dais?" Danae countered. Mia poured herself a glass of the violet drink and took a long sip. Ryo had taken his seat next to Kento, slightly farther away from the other table, but still within earshot. He also began drinking. "Trael de Eorsh: Trial of Time is what we call it."

"Typically, it is held that whomever serves as irpaerwyn is next to be paired," Yainae added. Mia started gagging on her drink at the same time Ryo pitched forward and started choking.

"Whoa, you okay Ryo?" Kento glanced at him and patted him on the back.

"Mia! You okay, hon?" Roxi leaned to the side to assist. Mia nodded shakily and took several deep breaths, while at the next table over Ryo also struggled to recover.

"So Dais, how's it feel to be the first Ronin Warrior to get married?" Cye asked.

"Oh, I'm far from being the first. Just look at Anubis. Twenty years ago, _he_ got married and had a lovely little girl as a result," Dais stated. Sage saw Anubis' cheeks turn Wildfire red.

"Are you blushing?"

"NO!"

"No one made a fuss about Danae getting pregnant before the Pairing?" Cale asked.

"They're not _that_ draconian. In fact, producing offspring early on is considered a sign of prosperity. Besides, we were technically considered married when I won the Trael de Nuca. All this is just pomp and circumstance," Dais commented and waved at the air.

"So when can we expect to see your bundle of joy?" Sage queried with a smirk.

"Well…Danae conceived about four months ago…so…I figure another eighteen months."

"What?!" "You serious?" "Holy crap!"

"OH MY GOD! THEY HAVE THE BREEDING CYCLE OF AN ELEPHANT!" Rowen exclaimed loud enough to draw startled glances from everyone nearby.

"Oh my…that tasted rather tangy," Kayura shook her head and set her glass down.

"We call it moukiri. It was created when our ancestors learned Pegacorns could navigate space, and is made from fruit harvested in Tirmutua. We seal it in casks and let them orbit the world to age for cycles. This particular batch came from my father's time," Azuro stated proudly.

"It…it tastes fermented…is this alcohol?" Kayura grimaced nervously and pointed at her glass. Azuro glanced at Aurora and said something in Thangien. Aurora spoke a reply and Azuro looked back at Kayura and nodded. Kayura quickly turned around in her seat. "Yulie! Stop drinking that right away!" she hissed and snapped her fingers at him.

"Why?" Yulie argued before breaking into a fit of giggles along with Ph'li and Ko'li.

"Ooh! Sehkmet! Sehkmet!" Sehkmet-who sat closest to the other table-looked over his shoulder at Kayura when he heard her call. "Get Yulie to stop drinking! He's underage!"

Sehkmet glanced at the boy then back at Kayura. "We're on another planet. Who's gonna notice?" he sniffed and shrugged. Kayura growled, frustrated by his indifference, and scooted out of her seat. She stalked over to the other table and tried to wrest the glass from a slightly-tipsy Yulie. "I drank at _his_ age…" Sehkmet muttered and took a sip of his own drink.

"Whoa, Dais! What's up with your arm?" Sage's eyes widened when he noticed the long puckered scar exposed by Dais' sleeve pulling back as he reached over the table.

"Hey, I thought I bandaged it with a leaf!" Kento remarked.

"You did. But the stuff you rubbed on my arm accelerates the formation of scar tissue and thickens it, so the healing from the leaf preserves it."

"So, wait, _that's_ what you get from the Pairing? A scar? No ring or anything?"

"Rings can be lost down a drain, or taken off at one's convenience…this? This will be with me for the rest of my life…" Dais whispered and ran a fingertip along the scar. He glanced at Danae, who displayed her own scar to the women seated at her table. They glanced at each other briefly. "I may be the most recent Ronin Warrior to get married, but I don't expect to be the last." Dais refilled his glass and lifted it slightly. "It is my sincerest hope that all of you here find happiness as I have: That you will find someone to protect and hold, from here until the end of all things." The others filled their own glasses and raised them. "Until the End Tide comes!"

"UNTIL THE END TIDE COMES!" the Nine cheered in unison and clinked glasses together. Festivities continued long into the night, with Khanphe and his troupe regaling audiences with llaudauns depicting some of the Ronin's more recent exploits. Thangiens gasped in awe at the sight of a spectacular built-to-scale puppet of the White Dragon devouring foes.

Cye glanced over his shoulder when he heard Tanya's voice and saw her tapping Sehkmet on the shoulder. Brianna stood with her and held the slim case she'd brought with her from Earth. Sage and Rowen rose from their seats and the five of them headed for the central stage. Cye raised an eyebrow in surprise but returned to watching the current performance finish.

Ander had carried along many things from his time, but there was one thing the Thangiens had never seen from the Modern Age on account of it having not been invented back then. The visitors from Earth had spent the majority of the day being wowed. Now it was Thanged's turn.

The first notes rose into the air from the bow sliding along the strings of a violin. White-armored fingertips moved deftly over the holes of an ornate flute. Black-armored fingertips strummed the strings of an electric guitar, while nearby another pair of hands elicited accompanying tones from another guitar. A series of rapid beats from a set of drums kicked the rhythm into high gear, and the people of Thanged got their first taste of rock n' roll.

Britania provided a delicate background melody with her violin. Tanya supported her, displaying modest musical talent with a flute decorated with pink glass and bound with gold she'd procured from somewhere. Rowen played lead guitar with Sage playing second, and the two Ronin poured their efforts into soul-stirring renditions of classical pieces. Sehkmet indulged in his role as drummer and tossed his hair energetically in tune with the rhythm.

The caevas clouds rolled overhead, and no amount of rain could drown out the spirited performance. The sky darkened as the last shreds of Thuruk's light faded into night, and the musicians from Earth continued playing well into the evening, ending only when Brit's bowstrings frayed in half and Sehkmet face-planted in his drums from exhaustion. The entire populace cheered, ignoring the persistent rain.

The network of tents kept everyone comfortable and dry. Pleats in the fabric channeled the runoff far away from the Pavilion, depositing it into grooves in the streets. Drains expelled the water through the outer walls where it pooled into ditches leading to the massive crops that sustained the city. Puddles turned into ponds and ponds turned into lakes. The rain showed no sign of abating, as Ritho seemed to give generously of her blessings.

A yellow-green fibrous substance began growing from under the surface of one of the miniature lakes, seeming to crawl along the soil and spreading along the edge.


	21. Plague of Thanged

Plague of Thanged

By Mardrena

The celebrations of the previous day had left the visitors from Earth too exhausted to even consider returning home at night, but Everlasting Mother Yainae graciously offered accommodations in the sprawling residence of the House of St'lur. What they lacked in available bed space outside of the immediate family, they made up for with pillows; lots and lots of pillows. Aurora had strewn dozens of them all over the floor of one of the large upstairs rooms, and the Ronin and their friends slept rather comfortably; a rather astounding feat considering a few had forgotten to remove their armor before dozing off sprawled across the floor. While most everyone remained on the floor blissfully snoozing as dawn broke, one figure hobbled outside.

"Oooogfh…I think I had way too much of the moukiri…" Rowen groaned, suffering from a monumentally bad case of cottonmouth. He folded his arms atop the balcony rail then thumped his forehead against his arm, immediately regretting it when he remembered he still wore sub-armor. He moaned softly before tilting his head back, breathing deeply and letting the damp morning air awaken him. He looked down at the street when he noticed a man sitting on a bench.

"Hey! Mister? Uhmm…" Rowen rubbed his temples. "Tuvo benar? Tuvo monmos?" The man didn't respond and remained sitting on the bench, head tilted forward slightly. "Poor guy must've partied so hard he didn't even make it home," Rowen muttered and vaulted over the rail, landing on the lawn below. "Listen, I can take you to wherever you live. Just tell me where and I'll get you there in a snap," Rowen walked towards the bench and grabbed one of the man's wrists and draped his arm over his shoulders. "Looks like the entire city partied itself silly. Guessing you've never been to an event this big." Rowen started to haul the man out of his seat.

The man's head rolled about on his shoulder listlessly until he faced Rowen. Rowen glanced at him, expecting to look into drowsy eyes, but gasped and promptly released the man, letting the body slouch back onto the bench. The eyes looked completely clouded over, and a sticky black substance trailed out of the nostrils and corners of the eyes. Rowen stared at the body wide-eyed and clutched a hand over his chest, feeling as if his heart beat a hundred miles a minute.

* * *

Within minutes the Thangien equivalent of EMS had arrived on the scene and a team of women clad in white cowls and combat uniforms placed the man's body into an insulated bag then zipped it shut. They carried the body into the back of a carriage attached to a pair of white Pegasi. Concerned people from the immediate neighborhood congregated along the sidewalks.

"Wow…super advanced technology and they prefer the ol' horse n' buggy. Sage'd probably feel right at home here," Kento chuckled. Sage sniffed and threw him an annoyed glance.

"It's more a matter of cultural discipline. They maintain a simplistic lifestyle to prevent overindulgence, and use technology only where deemed necessary," Anubis explained.

"Military and medical…" Cye muttered and scowled.

"Jeez Rowen, what's up with you and finding dead bodies-ow!" Yulie squawked in protest when Ryo promptly slapped him upside the head.

"Looks like word's gone out," Rowen said and looked up at a series of banners being raised on a flagpole further down the block. In the distance, they spotted other flagpoles and matching banners rising into the air. "People will hear about this across the city."

"Wait, you mean _that's_ how they get news around here?" Kento remarked. Rowen nodded. "They don't have internet?" Rowen shook his head. "Television? Radio?" Rowen shook his head again. "Morse code? Smoke signals?" Rowen scowled and put his knuckles on his hips.

"Ren Skyrider." Rowen's attention snapped to the front when he heard one of the medics address him. "We must ask that you come with us to the Traedeskaton to be decontaminated, since you may have been exposed to this contagion first-hand."

"Huh? Oh, okay…um, I guess I'll see you guys later," Rowen waved to the others and walked over to the front of the carriage. The two white Pegasi swished their tails and waited for the medics and Rowen to board before trotting down the street.

"Bad stuff to go down day after a wedding…" Ryo commented and turned to go back inside, but paused when a shrill siren erupted from the distance. He turned back around and everyone looked up when more banners began rising on the flagpoles. "Anubis?" Ryo asked, concerned when he saw the look in the Elder's eyes. "You're the next Thangien aficionado besides Rowen. What's going on?" Anubis turned to face him, looking worried.

"Red…underscored by black…means this isn't an isolated incident."

* * *

The rest of the visitors from Earth remained indoors, and outside daylight shone on sparsely-trafficked streets. Aurora and T'plaureth distributed cups of spicy broth to their guests, and most of the Ronin and their friends lounged about the contemplation circle with the exception of the newlyweds, who remained secluded in their own room. They looked up when they heard a faint _whoosh_ and saw the door open. Rowen stepped inside, wearing Eagle sub-armor.

"Ahh, Rowen! Welcome back! So, have fun getting scrubbed down by several hot Thangien nurses?" Cale teased. Rowen threw him an icy glare.

"Shove it, Cale! People have died out there!"

"Whoa…no need to bite my head off…was just trying to lighten the mood…"

"Rowen, how bad _is_ it out there?" Ryo asked cautiously. Rowen averted his gaze and rubbed the back of his head, looking almost nauseous.

"From what I gathered, there were at least a hundred other deaths reported across the city: all with similar symptoms, and a lot more sick bring brought in for treatment."

"Suppose it was something they ate?" Kento asked idly, drawing annoyed glares from most in the room. "Hey! Don't look at me that way! I'm serious! They crammed the entire populace into the Pavilion yesterday. Maybe something got in the soup that shouldn't have."

"Ehh…it's a possibility…it's just…I never seen symptoms like _that_ before…"

Most of the women of the group stayed upstairs, and in one of those rooms Australa held up a purple-and-white bloom encased in a softball-sized glass orb for Tanya to see.

"Oh my gosh! It's beautiful! I had no idea you people were so adept at glass-working!" Tanya beamed and cupped the orb in her palms. Australa wiggled slightly, looking very proud.

"So, who is your nucan?" she chirped abruptly. Tanya raised an eyebrow at her.

"Huh? Oh, no one. I'm not into relationships. I just wanted a souvenir to take home."

"But there _has_ to be someone, otherwise you would not have caught it."

"Psh. I'm a Ronin Warrior. I don't have time for that sort of thing."

"Dais found time. As did RoweTakin. And CyeTakin. And SageTakin. And AnuTakin at some point…" Australa brought up and giggled softly. Tanya rolled her eyes.

"Trust me, there's no man in existence I'd ever-whoa, you okay?" Tanya frowned when she saw Australa rubbing her eyes, wondering if she'd hurt the girl's feelings somehow.

"Ahh…I am allright. I labored most of the night to finish, and the festivities from last night have taken their toll," Australa assured and flicked sleep from the back of her glasses lenses.

"Go sleep yourself out, and thanks again!" Tanya waved and headed downstairs with her present. Australa blinked several times more before turning to retire to her room. "Hey guys! Check out what Australa made me!" Tanya announced and approached the circle.

"Whoa! How the heck did she _do_ that?" Ryo exclaimed upon seeing the preserved bloom.

"Search me. Now that I think about it, it'd make a nice snow globe, though I dunno how they'd get the snow inside now..." Tanya glanced at them then at the staircase.

Kento's eyes widened when he saw the orb slip from Tanya's grasp, as if her hands had gone limp suddenly. He lunged forward and extended his arm, barely catching the orb in his palm and banging his chin against the floor in the process. He opened his mouth, intending to scold Tanya for being so clumsy, but paused when he saw the look on her face. He looked towards the staircase and saw what had her so absolutely terrified.

Australa clung to the bottom post of the stair rail and tottered from side to side. Her left foot slipped off the bottom step and she staggered forward, pawing at the air futilely. Sticky-looking black fluid trickled from the corners of her eyes, and she could only breathe from her mouth.

"AUSTRALAPAELA!" Aurora screamed and ran over, catching her by the shoulders before she fell onto the floor. The Ronin seated at the circle jumped to their feet. Some of them stepped away, but Rowen ran over and knelt beside the stricken girl.

"I can port her to the Traedeskaton. I've been there before. ARMOR OF STRATA!" Rowen summoned his armor and slipped his arms underneath Australa's shuddering body. Her eyes looked unfocused, and she kept blinking repeatedly. "You're gonna be allright, don't worry," Rowen whispered softly. Aurora and T'plaureth backed away as the teleport rings began forming. Rowen gave Ryo a quick nod then looked upstairs briefly. He saw the door to Dais and Danae's room hanging open and caught a glimpse of a concerned Dais sitting beside Danae-who rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes shut-before the teleport took him out of the house.

* * *

Britania came downstairs quietly and glanced about the gathering room. She spotted Anubis standing by one of the windows staring through the filmy curtains at the flagpole. "Anubis?" He glanced at her when she addressed him. "…We're not going to be going home today, are we?"

"…No, I'm afraid not, my dear. You see that pennant at the bottom there?" Anubis pointed at the pole and the large yellow-and-black checkered flag whipping about in the wind. "It means quarantine has been implemented. People are not to venture outdoors until further notice."

"First Australa…then Danae…and now Yulie!"

"I'm actually impressed how calm people have been…for awhile I was worried they'd start accusing us, thinking the Pairing angered the gods, or something," Roxi commented.

"Our Queens are not so capricious," the Everlasting Mother stated firmly as she entered the room. Roxi ducked her head apologetically. "They gave every indication that the Pairing served their will. No…this bears the odor of something far more malevolent."

"What…what are you saying?" Britania frowned.

"I am uncertain…" Yainae narrowed her eyes and stared out the window. She stiffened and Brianna looked back at the pole in time to see the yellow pennant sliding down.

"Look! The flag's gone! Quarantine's been lifted! That means the worst has passed!"

"No, it's been lifted because it isn't going to do jack squat," Shannon spoke up and rose out of her seat at the contemplation circle. "This shit's airborne…" she muttered and walked towards the patio door. Roxi and Brit exchanged worried glances and walked after her slowly, watching as she stepped out into the courtyard towards a languid Sandstorm. "Hey, moping over Australa's not gonna do any good. I need you to take me to the Traedeskaton."

Sandstorm lifted his head up and raised one ear. His right eye lens widened slightly. Shannon grabbed his wing-shoulder and hauled herself into the saddle and slapped him on the rump sharply. "I MEAN IT!" she snarled. Sandstorm unfurled his wings and launched into the air.

"Did I hear right? Quarantine's over?" Ryo asked as he came downstairs, followed by Tanya, Kento, Cye, and Sehkmet. Britania nodded shakily. "Okay, once Rowen gets back from dropping off Yulie, we'll get him to take the rest of us there too so we can get the location point. Those of us with teleport abilities can help ferry in new patients..."

While Ryo issued orders, Roxi leaned against a wall and folded her arms. _All the times I dreamt of coming here…I never thought I'd bear witness to something this terrible…_

* * *

Yulie lay on his back in one of the sealed clear-domed capsules. He could still feel the black sickness oozing from his eyes and nose, but being in the capsule eased his headache some. He'd caught a glimpse of Australa and Danae in their own capsules when he'd been brought in, so he knew he at least had familiar company. Dais maintained constant vigil near Danae. _Mom…and Pop…aren't gonna be happy…that I lied…_ Yulie stared up at his reflection in the canopy.

His gaze shifted to the side when he saw someone sit down beside him. At first, his fever-blinded gaze perceived her as his mother, but a few blinks clarified her appearance. Wispy light brown hair framed a gentle face, and a light blue hood draped over her head and shoulders. For some reason, no matter how many times he blinked, he kept seeing her eyes all funny with black irises and hazel pupils. He wanted to ask her name, but all of a sudden he felt weary and settled into a deep-yet peaceful-sleep. He caught a glimpse of a smile before his vision faded.

"Heya sport! How ya holdin' up?" Kento asked and seated himself next to the woman sitting beside Yulie's capsule. The boy slept soundly.

"I'm afraid he won't be very responsive for a while. The capsules can only keep the sickness at bay, not cure," the woman admitted sadly. "People call me the Morning Mother because they identify the dawn with new life…but I'm also known as the Mourning Mother. Life and death may be a necessary cycle, but it's no less a painful one to endure. Seeing him suffer hurts me."

"Eh, I'm not too worried. I just wanted to stop by and check up on him while I'm here. Yulie's a tough kid…a real trooper. He'll pull through," Kento said with a grin.

"The death toll rises…and you're not worried?" the woman raised an eyebrow.

"Well…a little…but Yulie's not your run-of-the-mill kid. He can't die yet; he's still got too much to do. You wouldn't know it by looking at him, but he's faced down bad guys scary enough to make most grown men piss themselves. He won't let something like a nasty cold get the better of him," Kento whispered and placed a hand against the dome.

The woman's expression softened and she smiled warmly. "Such faith in friendship shouldn't go unrewarded. He _will not_ die. I…I…I **will see to that**." Kento blinked when he heard the voice shift into a weird deep echo and glanced to the side only to find the woman had left the room. He looked about the room and walked towards the door, peering out into the hallway. He spotted a group of medics down the hall and walked over.

"Hey ladies, did you see a woman come this way? She was about yay tall, brown hair, blue hood, white robes…kinda funny eyes now that I think about it…said something about 'mourning her mother' or something?" The medics gasped and began whispering amongst themselves before running away down the hall, chatting hysterically. Kento blinked. "…Was it something I said?"

* * *

Britania looked up when she heard footsteps and saw Aurora coming downstairs bearing a grim expression. Behind her, T'plaureth carried the human-Thangien boy of the twins. "Ko'li has fallen ill, and I cannot wait for the Morind to return. I am taking him to Mazzan. If any of you wish to accompany us to assist in the efforts, I will have the remaining Pegasi convey you."

"Wait, I thought the hospital was called something else," Roxi frowned as she stood.

"You have not heard then. The Traedeskaton overflows with the sick and dying. Emergency camps have been established in Mazzan and Raaezen," T'plaureth stated. Kayura, Michelle, Roxi, and Britania stepped away from the contemplation circle.

"We'll all go. We're not warriors but we can help in our own way," Brit said enthusiastically.

Mia, who elected to remain behind, watched them leave. She wove her fingers under her chin and stared at the flames of the circle for a few moments before glancing at the window. Yainae maintained her vigil and stared out at the flagpole, watching the ever-changing sequence of banners. Mia could tell from the banners-even with her limited understanding of Thangien numbers- that the death toll had surpassed four digits in the span of only a few hours Thuruk-time. Whiteblaze thrust his head under Yainae's palm and crooned softly.

Mia knew all too well the pain of losing a loved one to something so sudden and unavoidable, and now the Everlasting Mother faced the possibility of losing two daughters and a grandson.

* * *

Ryo walked through the halls of the Traedeskaton's lower floor supporting a sickened woman until a pair of medics arrived to take custody of her. He turned to head back out, but paused when he passed by one of the infirmary rooms. Several medics had gathered around a bed, and some of them wept profusely. One of the senior medics pulled a sheet of linen over the prone form lying on the bed, and as she did so, Ryo caught a glimpse of silver strands of hair. The distraught medics tried to comfort each other as they exited the room.

Ryo leaned against the wall and let his arms hang at his sides as they walked past. Inside, he felt as if a strong fire had suddenly withered into dead coals. Now, only in his memories did the radiant voice exist. He squeezed his eyes shut and took several deep breaths.

"It's officially reached epidemic status." Ryo looked up when he heard Rowen's voice. "Some people are dubbing it the 'Weeping Death'."

"Like that's supposed to be funny or something," Ryo snarled bitterly.

"The worst part of it is they have yet to identify the cause. The Black Death wiped out a third of Europe's population in the 1300's; Influenza killed off millions in the turn of the century…Bainshaebo only has a maximum population of a few million. Ryo, if this thing isn't stopped…it could cripple Thanged's fighting capacity," Rowen stated grimly.

"…I'm getting the feeling that's just how someone wanted things."

"Huh? What do you mean by that?" Rowen raised an eyebrow and watched as Ryo pushed himself away from the wall and walked down the hall.

"Dunno…just a gut feeling…" Ryo whispered and narrowed his eyes.

* * *

Cye paused and peered inside one of the lab rooms of the upper floors when he spotted Sehkmet in full armor. The Warrior of Venom had drawn one of his swords and inserted the tip into a large glass container. A handful of medics stood by and waited patiently for the container to fill as bright reddish liquid dripped from the edge. A couple more filled containers sat on adjacent tables. Satisfied with the amount, Sehkmet drew his sword out and a medic sealed the container. "Slian yador, Sahat Venomrider," the medic nodded gratefully and she and her partners left the room carrying the sealed containers. Cye scooted to the side and waited for them to pass before entering the room as Sehkmet sheathed his sword.

"What was that all about?" he asked, curious.

"Eh, they wanted samples of my venom. They're gonna try distilling it into a painkiller for the worst of the cases…Cye…can I tell you something?" Cye nodded and hummed. "This has me worried…and _that_ in turn worries me, because I usually don't _get_ worried. I don't like facing an enemy I can't sink my fangs into. You can't fight sickness with swords," Sehkmet commented and raked his fingers through his hair. Cye frowned sympathetically and remained quiet for several moments, contemplating. He looked back up and folded his arms.

"You're assuming battles are always fought with swords, but they're not. Real battles aren't fought with swords or skill, but with spirit. I mean, think about it; your venom comes from your swords, right? If they can make a viable drug from it, then in a sense, you're lending your weapons to these patients so they can put up their own fight." Sehkmet bit his lip then nodded.

"Yeah…I guess you're right…never looked at it that way…Thanks."

"No problem," Cye said with a smile.

* * *

"Wow, I didn't know you could do that," Tanya remarked as she stood by and watched Sage place his hand against the canopy of one of the capsules.

"I used to not be able to. The original Armor of Halo had strict limitations on how I could apply such power, and only under certain circumstances," Sage explained as the woman inside the capsule began responding. The blackened encrustations running along her cheeks flaked away, and no new discharges took their place. "I can't cure them, but I can buy them time."

"How…how many people have you treated like that so far?" Tanya asked, concerned when she noticed how Sage leaned to the side and rubbed his eyes.

"Hnn…I've lost count."

"Okay, that does it. You need to get some rest pal or else you'll burn yourself out," Tanya grabbed him by the shoulder and tried to haul him to his feet.

"You underestimate my ability, Shannon. I'm perfectly comfortable in high-stress situations."

"…You just called me Shannon," Tanya said stiffly and frowned. Sage blinked several times.

"…That I did…allright. I'm not as proud as your brother that I'll refuse sound advice."

"_Sage_ advice. Now scram. Port yourself back to the House of St'lur-Whoa! Sage!" Tanya exclaimed when Sage tottered slightly as he stood.

"I'm allright. Just…just exhausted…" No sooner did he say that and take a step towards the door than did he stumble once more. This time, Tanya caught him by the shoulder.

"Sage! You're not allright-You're _NOT_ allright!" Tanya cried when he slumped towards the floor. She moved to his right side to pull him towards a nearby bench but recoiled when she caught a glimpse through his thick hair of glistening black trails oozing from the corner of his eye. "Oh my God…I need a medic here NOW!"

The medics managed to find a vacated capsule and set Sage up in the same room as Danae, Australa, and Yulie. Tanya stood by and rubbed her arms as she waited for the medics to finish calibrating the machine. Kento -who'd been visiting the still-slumbering Yulie- sat by the boy's capsule and watched Tanya as she paced about.

"Don't you dare die on me. If you do, who else am I gonna give shit about having haystack-hair," Tanya warned shakily. Sage chuckled softly and clasped his hands over his stomach.

"There's the Elders, for starters…" he whispered then closed his eyes. A small panel of flickering lights close to the head of the capsule, which had previously been blinking rapidly, fell silent. Tanya gasped and slapped her hand against the canopy.

"Sage?! SAGE! HEY! I NEED HELP IN HERE! NOW! SOMEONE-"

"Damnit, Tanya. I'm not dead, I'm just meditating to conserve energy," Sage spoke up suddenly without opening his eyes, his brow furrowing in an annoyed scowl.

"Oh…okay…I forgot you Zen types could do that…Makes sense, I guess. Kinda playing possum to the plague… I wish I could do that, but I suck at that sorta stuff. I mean, I can stay quiet and calm when I want, but that sort of mental discipline is way out of my-" Tanya paused when she saw Sage glaring at her with his visible eye. "…Right…shutting up…I'll just, go over here then…" she muttered and backed away. All the while, Kento watched her as she drew her knees close together and grasped her shoulders. Instead of standing straight and brazen as typical of her, she looked small and fragile. Her eyes darted back and forth rapidly and she shuddered.

"…I've never known you to be the type to get worried," Kento spoke up softly.

"…When you've lost as much as I have, the thought of losing someone else you know-even if you don't know them that well-It's…it's upsetting," she replied in a hoarse whisper. She stood there for a few moments longer. Suddenly she narrowed her eyes in an irritated scowl and stormed out of the room in a huff. Kento remained in his seat and watched her leave quietly.

* * *

Ph'li crouched beside his sleeping brother. His wispy tail lashed about anxiously. Roxi tucked the blankets around the arms of one of the patients, and Brianna pressed a damp cloth against the forehead of another. They flinched when a chorus of metallic wails pierced the air.

"The Pegasi…they're crying. So many riders have died so quickly," Brit remarked.

"They can will themselves to die, if they choose," Ph'li spoke up suddenly. "It is Eyurodin's gift to them, that they are not shackled to eternal life in suffering." Just then, a booming roar rose above all other sounds, loud enough to cause Roxi and Brit to plug their ears.

"What the hell's _that_?" Roxi exclaimed and glanced in the direction of the large domed pens. Ph'li's ears perked up and he staggered to his hooves.

"It is Skybolt! He tries to encourage them not to lose hope!"

"I get it…he could've given up and died when Ander did, but he chose to survive," Brit stated and looked at the distant pens. "By living, he keeps Ander alive in a sense."

"I heard YuliTakin fell ill…you are Oldworlders…and you do not worry for yourselves?"

"Listen, kiddo; we swore we'd fight same as the Ronin Warriors do," Roxi stated firmly.

"Shannon said it's airborne, so we're all potentially buggered. Might as well make the most of it," Brit said cheerfully and glanced back at the pens as Skybolt Sunhammer continued his litany. She listened to the cries for a few moments then remembered she'd brought her violin case with her. Ph'li's ears cocked when he heard the first notes take to the air.

Roxi, however, looked irritated. "How can you play at a time like this?"

"What? Music can have a beneficial effect on people," Brit argued, pausing briefly.

"The people of Banguk-our sister world-once practiced the art of healing with sound." They looked up when they heard Tornath approach. He carried an unconscious Rona in his arms and set her down on a nearby bedroll. "But it has since been lost to us…along with its' people."

Roxi recalled what Rowen had said about the Thurukian system, and how he had neglected to go into much detail regarding the last two worlds. "Tornath…what…what happened to the Bangukians?" she asked warily. Tornath scowled angrily, and Roxi flinched.

"They were exterminated…by the Thunthen."

* * *

Bedrolls lined the floors of the great archives, and moans of discomfort echoed through the shelves. "For all my power, I can do nothing…" Kayura lamented and glanced over at Michelle. The young shaman knelt beside a woman expending her last breaths and uttered a chant in her native language. The woman ceased moving and Michelle gently pressed her eyelids shut.

"All we can do at this point is ease them into the next world…but I don't know where they believe their dead go…" she admitted and wrinkled her nose.

"I like to think we all go to the same place, just different interpretations. It unnerves me how sudden this happened, though. I can't begin to imagine how Yainae and Dais must feel, Dais especially since he came so close to losing Danae once before!"

"Dad's trying to figure out the cause. He can't really assist much in the rescue efforts, so he decided to hang out here and look for clues in Thanged's written history."

"Really? I haven't seen him recently…Where _is_ your father?" Kayura raised an eyebrow and looked down the aisles. Michelle pointed upwards. Kayura tilted her head back and gasped when she saw Anubis' legs dangling off the edge of a chair suspended high above by a complex network of cables. The Ronin Warrior leaned to the side and peered down at them.

"I've been poring over their earliest records searching for any instances of catastrophic disasters. Rarely does anything happen in the present without having occurred in the past. I'm hoping secrets, and more importantly hope, can be uncovered from these pages."

"Being the bibliophile you are, I'm certain you'll succeed," Kayura chuckled. A team of medics came by to retrieve the recently deceased, and after they left a second team set up fresh bedrolls for new patients. Kayura clasped the hand of a little girl and stroked her hair. Michelle began chanting again, her language-foreign to the Thangiens-comforting them.

* * *

Sage emerged from his trance when he heard a commotion from the hall outside. He tilted his head up and caught sight of a frantic woman supporting a sickly young girl. A medic spoke to her and shook her head, politely refusing the woman's pleas. Sage glanced about the inner edge of the canopy lid and wriggled his left arm up towards an emergency release switch. Tanya had returned earlier and sat on the floor with her back to the capsule and knees drawn towards her chest. She'd folded her arms over her knees and napped with her head resting against her arms. She blinked sleepily and raised an eyebrow when she heard a hollow-sounding whisper.

"Here, she can have mine," she heard Sage's voice say and opened her eyes to see Sage standing up shakily and beckoning to the distraught woman. The woman bowed and blessed him profusely in Thangien and the medic glanced at Sage, uncertain until he nodded reassuringly. She reluctantly situated the girl in the capsule and closed the canopy.

"SAGE! What the *censored* are you doing?!" Tanya exclaimed and stalked over to Sage as he seated himself against the wall.

"Our duty is to protect mankind…death…comes with the territory," he whispered.

"How the *censored* are you supposed to do your duty if you're dead to begin with!?"

"…You ever read 'Masque of the Red Death'," Sage asked abruptly and glanced at her.

"…No, can't say that I have…"

"It's a short story, by one of America's authors. It takes place in a country ravaged by a terrible plague called the 'Red Death'. A wealthy prince and hundreds of his fellow nobles seal themselves in a great castle where they plan to wait out the sickness. They spend their evenings celebrating, until one night a mysterious guest appears dressed as a plague victim. Enraged, the prince confronts him only to find out too late that the guest is the Red Death incarnate: come to claim the lives of all within. Can you guess the message?" Sage glanced at Tanya.

"…No one's above death…" she whispered and stared at the floor. She opened her mouth to speak as she looked back at Sage, but held back her words when she saw him meditating.

"Tiua Windrider?" Tanya blinked in confusion at the title and glanced towards the doorway at the medic leaning into the room. "Your presence is requested upstairs." Tanya nodded in acknowledgement and stepped towards the door. She glanced at Sage once more before exiting the room and following the medic, who guided her into a large office-like room where oddly enough Shannon sat near a table next to an elderly Thangien man. Other available Ronin eventually filed into the room, except for Dais-who remained with Danae- and the ill Sage.

"Good, everyone's here. I'd like you all to meet Kin Kin Aega, Coval. He's Chief Physician of the Traedeskaton. We've spent the better part of the last few hours investigating the plague and we have good news: we're not dealing with a virus here. It's actually a form of mold that typically only occurs in the deep soil. Anubis deserves the credit for putting us on the right track," Shannon nodded and gestured to him.

"Thangiens have encountered this malady once before, when eight-thousand of our years ago the most recent Solar Swap caused a heavier-than-normal rain season," Anubis explained.

"'Solar Swap'? What the heck's that?" Ryo whispered.

"Thangiens haven't sat idle within the walls of Bainshaebo. They've uncovered fossil records indicating that once every fifty million years, the Twin Suns exchange positions in the system."

"Is that even possible?!" Ryo squawked and recoiled.

"Well, for them it is," Rowen quipped and shrugged.

"We suspect yesterday's deluge agitated the soil enough to cause this mold to erupt. Infection occurs when spores are inhaled and nestle into the sinus cavities," Coval explained and pointed at a diagram projected against the wall from a desk-mounted lens array. "The 'Weeping Death' is a result of the mucus membranes and tear ducts laboring extensively to cleanse the sickness."

"But it's a Catch 22," Shannon added. "Keeping the body hydrated only causes the mold to breed faster, but the more the body tries to flush the mold out, the more it becomes dehydrated. The more it becomes dehydrated, the more quickly the mold goes after vital organs."

"Death occurs when the mold enters the brain," Coval said grimly and pointed at an image of a deceased victim's cranial cavity. Several of the Ronin grimaced in revulsion.

"So, what's the bad news?" Cale spoke suddenly, drawing glances. "You said identifying the cause was the good news, so there has to be accompanying bad," he shrugged.

"Well, Richtho tea can neutralize the infection and bolster the body's natural defenses enough to fight back, but it's not enough. It's barely keeping the death toll from climbing into six digits. We're brewing the stuff by the cauldron-full, but eventually demand will exceed supply and they'll have burned through all of their stock. We need to find the vector circulating the mold into the air and _eliminate_ it, and for that, we have a two-pronged approach," Shannon stated and thumped the desk with her index and middle fingers.

"How did the ancient Thangiens handle it?" Sehkmet raised an eyebrow skeptically.

"You mean besides letting two-thirds of the population die off? The original bloom occurred after Thanged experienced heavy rains that made yesterday's storm look like a faulty lawn sprinkler. When Thuruk 1 began moving back to its original position, Thanged went through a mega-winter that lasted for centuries until Thuruk 2 returned. It forced the mold to retreat under the topsoil and gave Thangiens time to recuperate and rebuild."

"Ren Skyrider, Khanto Earthrider, Sahat Venomrider, and Aruian Wrathrider will coordinate with Azurotago and the Metraind to execute a full sweep of the outer walls. You must search for pools of stagnant water. That is the only environment capable of nurturing the mold into the air. Tiua Windrider, Kouan Shadowrider, and Sean Waverider; I am told you are able to utilize a powerful freezing attack when your powers unite," Coval began. Shannon pulled her pendant out from under her dress and thumbed the Torrent Aquamarine.

Cye flinched and staggered back a step, closing his eyes from discomfort. The other Ronin glanced at him. Cye opened his eyes and blinked, looking at his hands. His eyes glowed faintly. "I supercharged your armor. You can't make a blizzard without snow, and you can't make snow without water. We're going to freeze the existing mold spores out of the city's air. Ryo can take you to Thananagreia, since he's been there before. It's the tallest structure in Bainshaebo, and you'll need to blanket the entire city for this to work," Shannon explained.

"Your armors seem to have shielded you from the worst of the infection, so you should be able to withstand prolonged exposure," Coval noted.

"Wait, then how come Sage got sick? I was exposed first hand," Rowen argued.

"Sage expended a lot of energy healing others. He kept giving and giving and kept nothing in reserve, and that weakened his body's natural defenses. For all we know, all of you could be infected and you just don't show symptoms because of your armors. However, before you all head out-and until we're in the clear-I want everyone to take a dose of Richtho tea every hour on the hour." Several of the Ronin moaned out loud in protest. "Yes, I _know_ the stuff tastes like rubbing alcohol mixed with diesel fuel, but it's the closest thing we have to a cure at present.

"Oh, and one more thing," Shannon spoke up as the Ronin turned to leave. They glanced back at her, curious. "If any of you see fit to join Sage and Yulie in the capsules, I'll personally kick your ass: armor or no armor!" Shannon growled and clenched her fist tightly.

"…Man, O'Connor women sure are scary," Cye muttered as he turned to leave.

"I know, one should be so lucky," Cale commented. Cye glanced at him warily.

"…We *_are_* talking about Shannon, right?" he raised an eyebrow. Cale merely replied with a toothy warlordish grin that didn't make Cye feel at all comfortable.

* * *

"I don't get it: why are we looking for standing water again?" Kento asked as he ran through the countryside bordering Bainshaebo's exterior wall.

"Because there shouldn't be any," Rowen shouted from where he flew overhead in Eagle sub-armor. "The soil tends to absorb water quickly, even after heavy rain, so something else must be interfering. Most of Thanged's water exists in underground reservoirs with the exception of a few rivers and lakes. There _is_ a old legend that Thanged used to have oceans long ago, but Roth gave them to the Aguarians because she felt they took up too much arable land."

"Whaaaat?! Why the heck would she do that?!" Kento pouted. "How are Thangiens supposed to learn how to shoot-the-curl?" Kento muttered and wrinkled his nose.

"Whoa, I think we just found our first source," Rowen muttered and alighted on the ground next to Kento as he came to a stop a few steps away from the edge of a large pond. The surface looked murky, and the two found a strange yellow-green fibrous growth extending from under the water along the shore. Rowen stepped forward and knelt down, reaching out with one hand and touching the growth with his fingertips.

"It's…it's some sort of hard algae," he remarked and rapped his knuckle against the surface.

"So that's been keeping the water from being absorbed?"

"Yeah, feel that?" Rowen pressed his hand into the soil outside of the algae. Kento knelt down and followed his example, feeling the damp loam squeeze between his fingertips.

"It's all squishy," he commented.

"Exactly. Thanged's soil is very porous, and isn't supposed to allow water to sit for this long."

"Whoa, check this out…" Kento scooted to the side and reached out for a spongy-looking globule mounted on a wispy stalk poking out of the water.

"Don't touch that!" Rowen shouted in alarm. Kento's fingertips had barely graced the surface when a fine yellowish mist erupted into the air. Kento stumbled backwards and blocked his nose and mouth with his forearm and watched the mist cloud ascend before dispersing.

"Okay…well I guess that explains how it got airborne," Kento muttered and shook his hand before pulling himself to his feet.

"Usually, there's a breed of ant that uses the mold as a food source deep in the soil…"

"But the flooding drove'em away…you said this stuff is keeping the water in place? Break it, and the water should drain?" Kento asked Rowen, who nodded. "Okay then…" Kento knelt down and placed his fingertips into the soil close to the edge of the algae. He pushed forward and grunted, and at his command, pillars of earth jutted up through the surface of the pond. He stood back up, satisfied when he saw the waterline begin to recede.

"Whoa…you see that?" Rowen frowned when he spotted a glint of metal atop the center-most pillar. He rose into the air and floated over to the pillar then braced his feet against the edges before reaching down and wrapping his fingers around a cylindrical protrusion of algae. After a few strong tugs the knotted mess peeled away from the soil and Rowen floated back and alighted next to Kento to show him the object.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say that looked like a canister…look at these," Kento ran his fingertip over rows of narrow slits all-but hidden by rigid algae growth.

"This stuff…came _out_ of this thing…" Rowen frowned and glanced at the horizon, where he saw dozens more stagnant pools in the distance.

"QUAKE WITH FEAR!" Anubis howled and sent his chains into every puddle within line-of-sight. He retracted his chain and smiled confidently upon seeing the puddles dwindle. He frowned when he heard a curious dull clatter and spotted a cylindrical algae-encrusted object entangled in the weighted claw. He stared down at it then glanced up at the rest of the cleansed ponds, spotting the faint sheen of metal at the center of each and every one.

"SNAKE FANG STRIKE!" Six swords struck the algae coating six immense pools, and immediately upon contact, the hideous algae withered and crumbled into dust. Sehkmet laughed merrily and recalled his swords. He paused in sheathing one when he noticed the dull gleam of metal before the acid consuming the algae began corroding the cylindrical object.

* * *

"Allright guys, let's give Bainshaebo its first White Christmas in over eight-thousand years," Ryo said and stepped away from the edge of the roof of the citadel-chapel.

"Cale, I think you need to lead off first," Tanya suggested. Cale nodded and drew his sword.

"BLACK LIGHTING SLASH!" In the courtyard below, the faithful gazed skyward and watched in awe as crackling blackness reached into the sky like claws.

"TYPHOON BLAST!" Tanya aimed her sword wheel at the sky and remnants of last night's caevas drew closer, obscuring the light of the Twin Suns.

"SUPER WAVE SMASHER!" Cye thrust his trident into the air, unleashing his enhanced power. Instead of a single devastating pillar, Torrent produced a massive wave of fine mist.

"RAKING RIME CLAW!" Ryo watched calmly as the combined super powers suffocated Thuruk's light entirely. It seemed to coalesce into a form like that of a gigantic horned specter that reached out with clawed hands and swept a great cloak over the city far and wide.

Yainae raised both eyebrows when the curtains billowed away from the window. Mia rose to her feet and walked over to stand next to the Everlasting Mother. Both of them watched bewildered as tiny flakes of white fell from the sky, and cold air penetrated the estate, almost quenching the fire of the contemplation circle.

"I'd almost forgotten…With everything that's been going on, back at home it's getting close to the Christmas season. It's a time celebrated with fellowship and generosity, and heralds the birth of the next year and of the future…" Mia whispered sadly.

"Our seasons do not change as that of Oldworld…but Ander told me often of what you speak," Yainae sighed. The two watched the great frost-demon sweep about the sky over Thananagreia. Snow accumulated in the streets and along the walls and roofs of the neighborhood and not even the heat of the Twin Suns outmatched the Ronin's strength.

"There is an old story associated with the suns…" Yainae began, and Mia listened attentively. "That long ago, when men first came to Thanged, before we met the Queens, the nomadic tribes were ruled by two brothers. One was strong, but a poor leader, and the younger weak, but very cunning. They were supposed to share in power, but after a time, the elder brother grew resentful and slew the younger. He proclaimed himself king, and named the suns after himself.

"The spirit of the elder brother took up residence in the central star, and the younger sought refuge in the lesser. Eventually it came to pass that the younger brother wrest control from his elder, usurping his position and ruling the system, if only for a time. He exacted vengeance in the form of a terrible sickness upon the complacent and wicked who dwelt in their settlements and abused the bounty of the land. Only the freelanders escaped judgment, and when the elder brother reclaimed his domain, the younger unleashed a chilling wrath before retreating.

"And so I wonder," Yainae said hoarsely and looked at Mia. "Is this _our_ punishment?"

* * *

At Raaezen, Kayura and Michelle administered Richtho tea to recovering patients and laughed and rejoiced with the children who came to visit them. At Mazzan, Ph'li tousled the hair of Ko'li and lashed his tail ecstatically, and T'plaureth held them both close. Tornath patted an awakened Rona on the shoulder and Roxi and Britania instructed the Thangiens in the finer points of snowball fights. At the Traedeskaton, Dais hugged a renewed Danae tightly and Sage shared a pot of fresh Richtho tea with Australa. Kento playfully noogied Yulie and patted him.

"You said you found one of these at the bottom of every pool? That the algae came _out_ of it?" Shannon asked and turned the encrusted object about in her hands.

"You sure you should be handling that?" Cale commented.

"It's harmless. This wasn't the source of the mold; it just allowed it to proliferate," Shannon replied and reached towards the table and retrieved a pair of forceps. She set to picking away at the fibrous mess. "This stuff is pretty…resilient…" she muttered.

"Hey, I can use acid to-" Sehkmet suggested.

"No, you _disintegrated_ all _your_ specimens," Anubis retorted and nodded towards a bin filled with rusted cylinders. Sehkmet pouted and huffed. Other bins filled with retrieved cylinders occupied shelves along the walls of the room, but Shannon currently examined the one discovered by Kento and Rowen. Azuro stood close by and waited patiently as Shannon peeled away bits and threads of the algae to expose the mysterious object.

"It…looks like there's…something underneath…like scratches…almost…" Shannon muttered as she managed to peel away most of the encrustation in a single large sheet, revealing a gleaming metal cylinder covered in narrow slits. She turned it over in her hands and peered down at it. "These markings…almost look like writing, but-"

Azuro promptly spun about on his heel and stalked towards the door quickly, the draft of his passing almost knocking Tanya off her feet. Blood curdled in the veins of those who saw the look on his face before he exited the room. "Whoa…I don't know what the Thangien word for 'pissed' is, but he looks it," Tanya stammered, eyes wide and pupils contracted.

"…Okay…I'm…guessing he knows something I don't?" Shannon remarked uneasily.

"Rowen? You know what this is?" Ryo asked when he saw Rowen's blanched face.

"Yeah…I know what it is…I don't know what it says, but I know what it is…" Rowen bit his lip and took several deep breaths. "It's called highscript…it's the type of handwriting used…by the Thunthen," he whispered and looked at the others.

The room fell utterly silent. Shannon slouched in her seat and let the cylinder rest on her lap. Cale grimaced and Anubis rubbed his eyebrows with his fingertips. Ryo stared at the letters, which sported a more rigid, angular style as opposed to the crescent writing used by Thangiens. Cye leaned against the wall next to the door and narrowed his eyes in a concerned scowl.

* * *

"There's no doubt that this was premeditated. They knew heavy rain would follow such a high-profile Pairing," a stern voice hissed. "They exploited your daughter's generosity."

"She takes blame upon herself and suffers from her guilt," an even voice stated.

"Guilt can wait! We can't let this _blasphemy_ go unpunished!" a coarse voice growled.

"It's not our place to intervene, even for such a tragedy as this," the even voice countered.

"Perhaps you're right…the fiend's son took the bulk of their forces with him, anyway. Only their dames and hatchlings remain at home," the stern voice muttered.

"Bloodletter hungers! Let's take the fight after them!"

"…He's on his way," the even voice said calmly.

"…Is he now? Well then…that makes things a great deal more interesting…"

"After all these years…he's kept true to his promise," the stern voice whispered.

* * *

"Almost fifty thousand…it doesn't sound like that many, all things considered, but for the Thangiens, it's too many," Rowen whispered as he leaned against the wall close to the staircase in the House of St'lur. Ryo stood next to him and stared down at the floor.

"It could've been worse…it could've been a _lot_ worse…" The two of them glanced towards the opposite end of the room when they heard a commotion. They spotted Aurora and Azuro in a heated argument. Azuro wore a more militaristic variation of his combat uniform and lashed his arm to the side, jabbing at the wall with a finger. Aurora spoke calmly.

"I don't have a translator with me…what are they saying?" Ryo whispered.

"I dunno…they're talking too fast for me to follow," Rowen replied. Aurora shook her head and voiced a soft rebuttal, but Azuro leaned close and snarled through clenched teeth, shouting the words "Vai Stel Vethu". Aurora bowed her head in defeat and sighed heavily. Azuro hissed something else before storming outside. Aurora sighed again and glanced in the direction of the two Ronin. She looked at them sadly, almost apologetically, before exiting the room.

"Whatever they were talking about, it didn't sound too good…" Ryo muttered.

"I know what they said." The two glanced at Cye, who leaned against the wall further away. "I don't have to know Thangien to understand them. Azuro's planning to call an emergency meeting of the Council of Houses, and Aurora was trying to talk him out of it."

"Talk him out of…what?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. Cye looked at them grimly.

"Petitioning the Watch-Rider…to go to war."


	22. Claws and Daggurs

Claws and Daggurs

By Mardrena

_I didn't think it would happen this soon…It didn't take much convincing from Azuro to have the Council _screaming_ for blood. Even those normally opposed to violence had to agree action needed to be taken. Peirolyth burns with the fires of righteous war, and every artisan from senior metalworkers to the lowliest of students work day and night. Dar Dar Vanes, Norin and his staff have their hands full fitting every mature Pegasi with war saddles. This is what they were designed for, after all; to oppose an enemy in deep space. Mothers say their farewells to their sons and daughters and husbands, and they pray for victory and safe return._

_This will be the first time in nearly thirty Earth-years that Thanged has mobilized for such a large-scale campaign. It's been two weeks since that day. King Torke's asked us to sit this one out. He feels that since Thangiens were the ones targeted, it should be Thangiens who respond. I guess we could argue that since Sage and Yulie almost bought the farm, we were just as much victims, but for now, we'll respect his wishes. _

_King Torke told me they 'needed to see our might' to become allies. If worst comes to worst and we do end up having to intervene…I just hope both sides can listen to reason…_

* * *

Mia walked downstairs softly and finished buttoning up her blouse. She paused when she spotted Ryo hunched over at the dining table and walked over. He didn't stir when she placed her hands on his shoulders but he acknowledged her presence with a sigh. "About this time, the first few Ranks will be taking off to make surveying sweeps of Planet Thunthen."

"The Thangiens have every right to be upset, but don't you think this is going a bit overboard?" Mia asked as she seated herself beside him and pulled the chair close. "We stopped the plague, after all. It didn't get the chance to spread into any of their other cities-"

"Bainshaebo is Thanged's only city." Mia glanced at Ryo, startled by the remark. "Except for a few farming villages on the Kundainian Plains, the majority of Thanged's population lives in Bainshaebo. Long ago, their gods decreed that they shouldn't spread too far across the planet in order to preserve its beauty. Thanged at most has a population just shy of six million." Ryo looked at her grimly. "If the plague had gone unchecked…"

"If…if we hadn't been there to help find the cause…" Mia added and clasped her hands over her mouth. Ryo let out a heavy sigh and raked his fingers through his hair.

"They've had small skirmishes in the past, even after Ander was killed, but they've always abided by rules of engagement. If the Thunthen were willing to stoop to such tactics, it means either someone new is in charge, or they just don't care anymore."

"Didn't Cye say they were supposed to be our allies?"

"Sounds that way, yeah, but the Thunthen have been enemies with the Thangiens for ages. They think they're inferior and don't deserve the planet. How can they be expected to join forces against the Enemy if they hate each other so much?"

Mia remained silent for a few moments, thinking. She scooted out of her chair and moved behind Ryo's seat and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, clasping her hands over his chest. "What better way to form a powerful friendship, than overcome an equally powerful hate," she said softly and kissed him on the cheek before heading for the kitchen. Ryo frowned, puzzled by the remark, but relaxed and smiled, humming appreciatively.

* * *

"Hmm…mmhmm…hnnn…" Rowen peered intently through the lenses of his magnification goggles and poked and prodded at a small square-shaped device. Steam hissed from soldering points and he breathed slowly between phases. Ryo walked past the den and spotted him sitting on one of the sofas. Various bits and pieces of equipment littered the coffee table.

"Um…hey…Rowen…what're you working on?" Ryo asked warily. Rowen paused and flipped the goggles up, glancing over his shoulder at him.

"Oh hey! I'm just putting the finishing touches on these all-range wrist communicators."

"Oh…okay…" Ryo blinked and wrinkled his eyebrows, frowning. "…what for?"

"Well, for us to use," Rowen rolled his eyes and paused in resuming his work. "One thing I've noticed lately is we seem to have a problem with reliable communication. Being able to relay information quickly to each other could go a long way in improving the outcome of our battles. It might even help prevent incidents like that attack the other week." Just then the doorbell rang. "OOH! I got that!" Rowen sprang away from the sofa and Ryo barely sidestepped in time to avoid being bowled over as Rowen pelted towards the stairs.

Rowen half-slid half-skipped downstairs and ran past Tanya fast enough to warrant several shrieked expletives. He skidded to a stop by the front door and pulled it open, neatly retrieving the package from a startled delivery man with one hand and signing the form with the other. He closed the door before the man could utter a word and dashed back upstairs. Ryo had the sense to stand towards the side of the door frame this time and watched Rowen claw the wrapping off the package and fish out handfuls of plastic pieces and long colored bands.

"Ryo, tell the others to gather by the dining table. I'll be down shortly!"

* * *

"Tadaaa," Rowen held out five objects that looked no different from sports watches except with large screens instead of multiple dials. "I got the idea from some of the equipment I saw in the Traedeskaton, and I got Kayura to attune them to our armors so they'll stay on us even when we transform!" he grinned and waited for the others to take the bands associated with their respective armor colors. Cye turned his over and arched an eyebrow at the embossed Torrent insignia on the outer band. Kento eagerly fastened his around his wrist.

"Are these really necessary? The Armors have a deep spiritual bond that's served us well in the past," Sage argued and eyed his "wrist-com" warily.

"Oh c'mon Sage, don't be such a spoilsport! I'd totally dig a cool wrist communicator!" Kento complained and elbowed Sage in the ribs. "Do these things pick up TV signals?"

"All I'm seeing is a bunch of blinky lights," Tanya muttered.

"That's just tracking mode. It's meant to show our locations at any given time by reading the unique energy signature given off by our armors. The visual link's gonna take some work…"

"Do the Elders have them too?" Ryo asked and turned his wrist over.

"Not yet. The parts for theirs won't arrive for at least another week," Rowen explained while he adjusted his own band. He demonstrated the persistence of his wrist-com when he changed into sub-armor. "On their own they have a limited range, but in order to sustain a strong visual link, I'll need to rig up something to relay the signal across the globe."

Rowen scooped up a large container from the table and headed outside. The others followed, intrigued, and joined Rowen outside in the driveway. He set the container down on the ground briefly then raised his arms. "ARMOR OF STRATA!" he finished summoning his armor and scooped the container back up then looked skyward. "There's a whole mess of telecommunications satellites up there. I'm sure no one'll mind if we…'borrow' one," he grinned and rose into the air. "I'll be back in a while. I'll let you know how it goes," he called before shooting off into the distance. Ryo and Cye shielded their eyes against the morning sun and watched the glowing blue pinprick as it departed into the sky.

Rowen moved his face mask down and activated his energy shield before pressing on through the upper layers of the atmosphere. Air roared and burned, clawing at his shield as if reluctant to let him escape. This would be the first time he'd ascended so high of his own volition. The sound became almost deafening before finally giving way to perfect silence. Rowen turned around and paused to stare down at the surface of the planet.

Anyone of their enemies who held malice in their hearts for the Mortal Realm obviously had never seen the planet as he did. "Okay, that's enough gawking. You got work to do," Rowen chided himself and turned back around to continue his trip. It didn't take much searching to find an orbiting satellite nearby. He drew close and dismissed his shield. His armor still protected him from the vacuum, but he needed to be able to work close to the apparatus.

_Gotta love living in Japan. We always get first dibs on the latest stuff_, he smiled and hummed in his thoughts while he worked attaching cables and switching circuit boards.

Back at the estate, Kento continued preening over his wrist-com. Tanya grumbled about the band fitting too loosely on her wrist, despite being on the tightest setting. Ryo stared at the screen of his, waiting patiently for Rowen's signal. The screen erupted into static before clarifying into a somewhat grainy image of Rowen. "HEY! It's working! Switch to visual!" Ryo shouted. The image became sharper and the others could see Rowen's mouth moving.

"I can't hear anything…is it muted?" Cye asked.

"No sound in space, dude," Tanya reminded. Rowen frowned and glanced upwards, and a second later a bluish tint came over the view.

"_Sorry 'bout that; Forgot to turn my shield back on. Visual link will only work on Earth, so if we do any off-Realm fighting, we'll have to rely on Armor signature. You can switch between contacts using the upper-right hand button and the color indicator at the corner of the screen."_

"Heh-eh-ey! Will you look at that! Hey Tanya, can you see me?" Kento asked.

"_I dunno. Can you?"_ Kento frowned when he got a screen-sized view of Tanya's middle finger. Sage snorted in grudging appreciation and Cye made a pleased hum.

"_Since the signal can be broadcasted through the entire satellite network, we'll be able to keep in touch anywhere on Earth. It'll save on phone bills for sure-"_ Ryo noticed Rowen frown and look off to the side. He looked concerned through the holes of his face mask. _"…I'll…be back soon…I'm just…going to go check something out right quick. Strata out."_

"Lucky sonofabitch, getting to fly all the way up there…" Tanya grumbled. Ryo somehow felt troubled by Rowen's expression. Anxiety nestled itself uncomfortably in his gut.

* * *

Rowen finished resealing the conduit and drifted away from the satellite. He turned off his shield, not wanting to draw attention with the glow. He hadn't noticed it at first, as engrossed as he'd been in his task, but he'd caught it out the corner of his eye: a part of space where no stars shone. It seemed to be maintaining geosynchronous orbit far above the North Pole.

Rowen felt a mixture of horror, wonder, and curiosity as he approached what appeared to be several immense vessels of varying shapes and sizes. He came to a stop alongside the outer hull of one and inched himself close to what looked like a porthole and peeked inside. His eyes widened when he spotted several bulky saurian figures lounging about metal tables. Hook-like horns curled up from the tops of their heads, and coarse-looking beards of fibers in varying shades and hues of blue, red, or orange ran along the edge of the lower jaw. Similar fibers ran over the eyebrows and scaly crests ran from the top of their heads down the backs of their necks.

He'd spent so much time observing the creatures he didn't notice right away when one of them looked straight at him and stood up sharply, pointing with a long ivory-white claw. The other creatures whirled around and spotted him, mouths opening in alarm and displaying interlocking rows of white teeth. Rowen grimaced and peeled away from the porthole swiftly.

He dared a glance over his shoulder and spotted several objects speeding towards him. They looked like narrow cones with broad crescent-shaped wings that rotated on an axis. Rowen fitted arrows to the string and prepared to fire, but hesitated when he sensed life within. He instead aimed for the axis joints, causing many of the spacecraft to drift about helplessly.

Dozens more fighters sped out to give chase and Rowen continued retreating. He frowned when he saw the pursuing spacecraft peel away suddenly. He turned to leave, but paused when he spotted a bright orange glow out the corner of his eye. He turned slowly to face the source, and found himself staring into a maw as big as Texas that glowed brighter than a furnace.

Many movies depicting combat in space often inserted sound for dramatic purpose, but in reality, no sound existed in space. Not the sound of Rowen's panicked heartbeat, not the sound of his breath wheezing in his throat, or the sound of dozens of colossal metallic teeth hinging wide open, or of dozens more flaming projectiles erupting from the throat of the beast. Absolute horror gripped his mind, and he could think of no other option than to stand his ground.

He held his bow infront of him and activated his shield once more as the objects approached. They passed by, leaving hideous smothering heat in their wake that bore down on him from all sides. The flames all but scoured away the shield, and Rowen felt his strength wither as he began drifting down towards the planet. The last remnants of his Armor's power went into reinforcing the shield, and once more fate robbed Rowen of consciousness during reentry.

* * *

"ROWEN!" Ryo exclaimed when he felt his kanji erupt on his forehead. The other's spirits reacted as well, and they all shared the same overbearing sense of dread.

"Even _I_ felt that!" Tanya exclaimed, eyes wide in horror. They all looked skyward and saw in the distance a flickering blue light that abruptly winked out.

"He's falling without a shield!" Cye exclaimed and transformed into Shark sub-armor. The others also transformed into AnimArmor and took off running. "Falling from that height, at that speed, even in armor, the impact will kill him!"

"Can't we just port over and catch him?" Kento argued.

"The only one who can tell where any other Ronin is at a given time is Rowen, and _he's_ the one falling!" Sage countered. Ryo raised his insignia ring and twisted it.

"There is someone who can catch him. WHITE DRAGON!" Light surged from the ring and solidified into a massive reptilian figure. "FLYYYYY!" Ryo screamed.

But Raurgoth did not fly. Achieving lift would take precious time he did not have. He galloped, however, bounding across the landscape faster than anyone could believe. A businessman locking the door to his house saw a shadow sweep past briefly. When he turned to his driveway, he dropped his suitcase, horrified by the sight of his flattened luxury car. A landscaper hauled sacks of supplies out of a truck and panted from the effort. He turned to the empty space of yard where he'd planned on setting up a garden and saw a large deep impression in the soil. A father laboring at the insistence of his two excited children to fix burgers frowned in dismay when a powerful blast of air extinguished the coals in his grill.

"He'snotgonnamakeit, he'snotgonnamakeit…" Kento fretted.

"He _WILL_ make it!" Tanya shouted.

Raurgoth furrowed his thick scaly brow in determination as he charged. He bundled his legs under him and pushed down powerfully, throwing his body forward into the air. He tucked his tail and wings close and began rolling over the land, narrowly missing homes and businesses, but crushing electrical towers in his path. He twisted his tail to the side and dug his hind talons into the ground and extended his left wing like the hand of a desperate baseball player.

Rowen's limp body struck the membrane so hard, he almost tore through, and Raurgoth let out a hissing roar from the pain. The impact pushed the membrane far enough to nearly touch the ground before sending Rowen bouncing up and further along the wing before he finally rolled to a stop. Raurgoth pushed himself into a sitting position and angled his wing gently, trying to slide Rowen onto the ground. Rowen tumbled off and Raurgoth rose to all fours.

Ryo alighted nearby, wearing Dragon sub-armor. He held his arm out and turned his wrist forward, pushing the visual link button with a fingertip. He turned the screen from side to side then turned around and saw teleport rings form. Sage materialized with the others in tow and immediately ran over and knelt beside Rowen to treat him.

"What the hell happened up there…AHAH! What the crap!?" Tanya squawked and clamped her hands over her ears. The others also flinched from the deafening bellow as Raurgoth fanned his wings at full stretch and stood up on his hind legs. The White Dragon screamed and screamed before crouching and the others had to hunker down to avoid getting knocked off their feet. Older trees bowed from the intense force while weaker ones snapped off at the stump entirely. Raurgoth continued shrieking as he slipped into the clouds.

"Estimated trajectory places point of impact in this area. We are to find the intruder and take custody of him for the High Overlord," a coarse voice hissed behind a shiny blocky visor. Five conical aircraft with broad crescent-shaped wings descended through the atmosphere.

"There is something on scanners…coming from below…" The hapless pilot of the lowermost craft barely had time to cry in alarm before a huge white clawed hand reached up and swatted it towards the ground. White clouds peeled away to expose the pearl-scaled leviathan as it rose after them, bellowing in rage. The dragon seized another craft in its jaws and crushed it to bits and flicked a third from the skies with a wingtip. The fourth tried to bank and wheel about, but the pilot cowered in its' seat when the long tail whipped about and shattered the craft.

"The stories are true, they _do_ possess a titanodracoasaur. The High Overlord must be informed…" the surviving pilot guided his craft back towards space, oblivious to the way the dragon moved its' jaw from side to side as if swishing liquid about in its' mouth.

Heat rippled about Raurgoth's lips as he rendered the remains of the craft into molten metal. He flicked his tongue about in his mouth, rolling the metal into an undulating blob. He then pursed his lips and spat out a metallic spike like a bullet. The fleeing craft had barely passed the outer layer before the spike plowed through the cockpit.

"The rest of you go check that out," Ryo pointed to the distant column of smoke rising from the distance where they'd seen an object fall. Cye, Tanya, and Kento ran to investigate while Ryo and Sage remained with the still-unconscious Rowen.

The three Ronin arrived at the edge of a sizable impact crater and readied their clawnchers as they spotted movement from the fallen craft. A translucent canopy hinged open and a large bulky figure covered in obsidian-colored armor staggered out onto the wreck. It turned a long blocky face towards the Ronin and reached for something with a large clawed hand.

Immense jaws clamped over the creature and lifted it up into the air. Cye, Kento, and Tanya moaned in dismay at the sight of Raurgoth rearing his neck up and tossing his head to and fro before swallowing the creature. "Could you have at _least_ let us _interrogate_ it?!" Cye yelled.

"Was that the Enemy? Is this the End Tide?" Tanya asked, worried.

"No. The craft doesn't look anything at all like what I saw in my vision," Cye replied.

"R-R-Ryo…" Rowen whispered, responding at last to Sage's power.

"Rowen! I'm glad you're still with us. What happened up there? What did you see?"

"Vy…vy…Vyerrde…klagn…" Rowen sighed before his eyes closed.

"Rowen! Rowen!"

"Let him rest. His energy is completely spent. It's a miracle he didn't get squished to paste inside his armor," Sage muttered. "What was that he said? That word: 'verdant clam'?"

"_Vyerrdeklagn_…" Ryo whispered. Sage blinked and raised an eyebrow. "…The Thangiens call it 'Maw of Flame'…it's the weapon…the Thunthen used…to destroy the Bangukians…"

* * *

"So…what does this mean?" Cale asked as he paced about the room. The other Ronin sans a still-unconscious Rowen stood in the dining room of the estate.

"We're not entirely sure. We don't know what exactly happened up there-" Ryo began.

"Yes we do! They attacked Rowen without provocation with-if what he croaked before he passed out is true- the equivalent of the Devil in Thanged's modern mythology!" Tanya growled.

"For all we know he might've spooked them," Sage argued.

"I'd say the feeling was mutual!"

"Assuming what Rowen said is true; this 'weapon' has been parked above Earth for quite some time. If it is capable of what's been said about it, it could have been used at _any_ time without us knowing in advance and without us being able to even react in time," Cye interjected. "There's any number of possible scenarios. We can't go off half-cocked like the Thangiens. If there's any possibility of opening a dialogue, we need to let these beings make the first move."

"They already did, and it wasn't a pleasant one," Dais commented.

While the others threw arguments back and forth, Kento hung by the back idly observing with minimal interest. He hummed and glanced over his shoulder when he noticed the mini-TV turn on suddenly. Thinking it inappropriate for it to be on during a discussion, he reached for the remote and pressed the OFF button. The TV remained on. Kento frowned and pressed again and again, and even tapped the remote against his palm, thinking the batteries had failed.

A low sound like a cross between deep hissing and a backwards-playing record emitted from the TV, causing Kento to yelp and drop the remote. The others looked his way when they heard his cry and then the strange sounds. They turned to face the TV, which showed nondescript shadows. The sounds persisted several moments longer, sounding vaguely like questions.

"That's not Thangien…is it?" Sehkmet asked warily.

"Definitely not…accent's too rough," Anubis stated.

_"Can you hear me?"_ Not one among them didn't jump in their places: startled upon hearing the coarse voice. "_I certainly hope you can. I've spent the better part of the past few_ revols _studying your myriad dialects. I'm going to assume I'm using the proper one. I must apologize for the rather untoward…introduction…but your agent's unexpected intrusion forced my hand."_ The voice spoke with all the tenderness of an enraged serpent and sounded as soothing as rusted nails across a metal sheet. "_While I _would _have preferred a more formal meeting, it would seem one of my subordinates…_overreacted…_he's been punished_. Severely.

_"I wish to trade words with the individuals the denizens of Thanged refer to as_ Morind de Witheren. _There's a location I've deemed suitable, as it's seldom trafficked."_ The TV displayed a grainy image, as if from a satellite. "_I'll be unattended, and I'll approach you only when I see that you've gathered. Well…at least those in the condition to speak."_ The voice chuckled, and the younger Ronin exchanged annoyed glances.

"I know that place. It's one of our worksites," Sehkmet whispered to Ryo, who nodded.

_"I'll establish no time or date, suffice that it's when your sun isn't present in the sky. Come at a time of your choosing…I'll be waiting. I might add that I'd very much like to meet you…Guin mauthuak_…" the voice concluded before the TV turned off on its own.

"…Well…looks like we're gonna get your dialogue," Dais sneered in Cye's direction.

* * *

"Sucks Rowen couldn't be awake for this…" Kento grumbled and thumped the end of his bo against the pavement as he paced alongside a parked bulldozer. Cye and Cale had seated themselves atop the treads and Sehkmet and Anubis leaned against a portable building. Tanya sat on a pallet of cement bags and Dais hung upside down from a crane. Sage turned the tip of his sword about in the ground idly, pausing every now and then to look at his reflection.

"I think it's safe to say he's already had First Contact privileges," Anubis commented.

"We could've waited…but I think we need to get this resolved now. If they had the decency to ask for a meeting, maybe we can avoid further conflicts," Ryo reminded.

"Is this guy gonna show up? We've been waiting here for hours…You figure he's waiting for us to be completely alone? What if someone else is watching us? Like that annoying reporter woman," Tanya hopped off the pallet and raised her blade launcher.

"One of these days we should egg her chopper," Sehkmet snickered.

"Yeah, like that one time with Mia's-uhh…never mind, bad example…" Dais trailed off after drawing glances from the younger Ronin. Cale chuckled softly to himself and glanced about the surrounding streets idly. He gave his claw gauntlet a brief examination and sniffed before folding his arms over his chest. His brow furrowed when he spied something further away down the street; indistinguishable from shadow to anyone else but himself.

"Ryo…what's a Thunthen look like again?" Cale asked slowly, his eyes slowly widening.

"Um…tall…spiky shells, long tail, horns…why?" Ryo frowned and glanced at him.

"Okay…just…just checking because…there's one headed our way," Cale answered hoarsely and gulped. The others looked in the direction he stared at, but only saw black against black outside of the range of the construction floodlights. Then they heard the steady sound…

*_Thup…thup…thup…thup_…* Ryo glanced once more at Cale and blinked in surprise upon seeing the look of horrified awe under the red face mask. *_Thup…thup…thup…thup_…*

*_THUP_* Ryo remembered the first llaudaun he'd seen, which depicted the Death of Ander. Only now did he realize the horrible accuracy of the costume worn by the actor.

A large foot with yellowish-orange skin and three thick talon-tipped toes moved first into the light of the floods, and the rest of the body followed. Padded armor of a shiny blue material covered the shins. A padded girdle encircled the waist, and thick pads draped over the hips and between the powerfully-built legs. Hands with four fingers hung alongside the hips, and thick white claws easily six inches in length extended from each fingertip. A crested metallic-blue armguard covered the right arm from wrist to elbow, and a tight-fitting sleeve of thin glossy-green material extended from the wrist of the left arm to a few inches above the elbow.

Green armor covered the barrel-like abdomen and metallic-blue material covered the upper chest. A thick blue pad with a yellow crest covered the right shoulder, and a partial sleeve of dark green material with a protruding spike covered the left. A beard of bright orange fibers hung down from the edge of the lower jaw, ending in a point directly under the chin. The white rim of what looked like a shell mounted on the back curled alongside the shoulders and neck.

Even without the pair of curling hook-like horns jutting from the top of the head, the Thunthen easily measured ten feet tall. A short crest of stiff orange spines ran from the top of the head just above the eyes to down the back of the neck. Three narrow purple stripes ran from the edge of the throat to the back of the neck. The nostrils flared and contracted in the rectangular muzzle as it breathed, and the thick orange eyebrows furrowed and relaxed. It constantly cocked its' head to and fro, as the placement of the icy blue eyes-one on each side of the head-gave it a limited field of vision. A thick tapering tail as long as it stood tall lashed about the legs, and sparks went up from where it dragged a spiked club on the tip across the pavement.

The lips parted, revealing interlocking rows of teeth. The Ronin's initial awe quickly gave rise to confusion as the Thunthen's body began shuddering, and they found it unnerving that such a deep, human-sounding laugh could come from behind those teeth. "So, you are the fabled 'Morind de Witheren'," the Thunthen spoke in a guttural voice. "Your armors look every bit as garish as that blathering fool Khanphe portrays." The Ronin chafed at the comment but remained silent as the Thunthen folded one arm over his chest and raised the other to his chin.

"And this is your world…your rather beautiful…_densely populated_ world… You see, it's been a mystery to us for some time; the origin of the Thangiens. Thanged's ecosystem isn't very conducive to yielding such a sentient race. I can hardly imagine the diminutive Pei monkeys giving rise to the _fearsome_ Thangiens…maybe in another billion years or so, but I'm getting off track," the Thunthen waved his hand and sniffed.

"So imagine our surprise when we ventured forth, intent on settling our verdant sister world, when we discovered a burgeoning race of thin-limbed, soft-skinned mammals. Imagine our shock when those same soft-skins managed to stymie our efforts to colonize." The lips curled in a sneer and the eyes narrowed. "Imagine our _rage_ when the _spineless_ coward _Das Anazhar_ committed the unfathomable _sin_ of showing pity to the woman who called herself Queen!

"When the 'Thangiens' began converting their beloved steeds into living weapons, we worked to sabotage their efforts out of justly-warranted concern for our own well-being. Imagine my curiosity that when the first successfully-converted Pegasi and his Thangien warden departed into the vault of stars, that their course would bring them to a planet so very similar to Thanged…And now here I stand, on the home of the progenitors of the Thangien race."

"Who…who are you?" Ryo asked, still trying to digest the rambling monologue.

"Ahh…introductions. Something I seem to have forgotten in my reflections. I am a Noble of Planet Thunthen, and the High Overlord of our great fleets. I," the Thunthen swept his arms to the sides and splayed his claws grandly. "Am Mal Daggur," he said and bowed slightly.

Ryo's gaze snapped to the side when he heard the sharp rattle of a chain being pulled taut and saw Anubis readying his weapon and tensing, as if to leap forward and slay the Noble. "Whoa, Anubis, what's wrong?" Ryo asked, very much concerned by the look in the warrior's eyes.

"There can be no peace. Not with him, NOT WITH HIM!" Anubis growled through clenched teeth. The other Ronin exchanged troubled glances, while Mal Daggur himself looked oddly enough at ease, almost amused. "You all didn't read as extensively into Thanged's history as I. This foul _demon_ that stands before us is none other than the Butcher of Banguk!

"Ander repelled the Thunthen assault decades ago, but as a last act of spite, the Thunthen unleashed the _Vyerrdeklagn_ upon Planet Banguk. Sur Daggur gave the order to fire, but it was his son-_Mal_ Daggur-who pulled the trigger, so to speak. I may damn myself for saying so, but I WILL NOT forgive such wanton depravity. At its' prime, Planet Banguk's population easily numbered over three times that of Planet Thanged…" Anubis snarled angrily.

"Butcher is such a _crude_ sounding word…I prefer to think of myself as more of a…_purifier_," Mal Daggur chuckled and spread his lips in a sinister crocodilian grin.

Profound horror and deep concern roiled inside Ryo's mind. He glanced from Mal Daggur-standing so calm and smug- to Anubis, whose entire body shuddered with barely-restrained rage. Ryo glanced at the others, who equally looked torn between outright executing the-criminal didn't seem harsh enough a word to use-, to keeping their anger in check.

"Come on Ryo, let's just waste this dude," Tanya snarled and raised her blade launcher.

"No! Tanya, you _know_ that's not how we do things," Ryo hissed and grabbed her arm.

"Ryo, this guy just bragged about wiping out millions of people," Kento whispered.

"I know that. Anubis, I need you to calm down. I can't have you Warlord-out on me. You know just as well as I do that we'll need the Thunthen onboard for the End Tide…" Ryo said softly. Anubis took several more ragged breaths before relaxing and lowering his chain.

"I must say I'm impressed by the _wisdom_ and restraint displayed by the one named RyoTakin," Mal Daggur praised thickly and straightened himself. "While you're every bit entitled to exact justice, just as I'm every bit deserving of it, it would be a grossly inappropriate use of the powers for which you all are so well known to strike me down in righteous flames."

Mal Daggur stroked his beard with his long claws. "I would propose something. You see, I am named High Overlord because I am the mightiest of my kind. None alive can match me. I am a warrior, just as you are warriors. I say this to you then: Il paura dour," the graceful Thangien words sounded almost like a slur in his voice, and he bowed deep enough to fully display the fearsome-looking rack of spikes on his shell. He held his tail out for balance behind him.

"Oh to hell with this," Sehkmet snorted and drew two swords.

"Sehk, NO!" Ryo ordered sternly. Sehkmet glanced from him to the Noble then back at Ryo, a disgusted look on his face. "Il paura dour: it means 'I play with an empty hand'."

"That's a Thangien challenge. He's _NOT_ a Thangien," Sehkmet retorted.

"If we can beat this guy legitimately, it just might send a message to the rest of them that we'd make better allies than enemies. Weapons only, no powers," Ryo mandated. Outwardly, many of the others looked upset with the edict, but in their hearts they knew it to be true.

"I'm glad you conduct yourself with such honor," Mal Daggur spoke and laid his tail against the ground behind his heels. The Ronin didn't notice how it tensed and coiled. "Then, as custom dictates; the challenger gets the first blow." The tail bunched up and pressed against the pavement, and both Mal Daggur's feet left the ground as he sprang forward. The Ronin gasped in shock as the Noble charged towards them faster than they'd expected. Sage and Kento moved forward on either side of Ryo to intercept and held their weapons ready.

Mal Daggur pivoted on his left foot and whirled around, lashing his tail club at Kento and sending him flying into the pallet of concrete bags hard enough to send it skidding. In almost the same motion, he backhanded Sage fiercely into the bulldozer, almost causing it to topple sideways. Ryo took a step back, horrified to see the Thunthen looming over him so quickly. Mal Daggur swung his head up and to the side then down, clamping his jaws over Ryo's head.

Ryo slipped out and landed on his backside, head still attached to his shoulders. He scrambled backwards and stared up at the Thunthen who held the ornate helmet in his jaws and tossed it to and fro much the same way Raurgoth treated his meals. Mal Daggur released his grip and let the mangled remains of the Wildfire helmet drop into Ryo's lap. He glowered down at the Ronin Leader and opened his jaws once more, fully intending to devour Ryo's exposed head.

Anubis sprang atop Mal Daggur's shell and braced his feet against the collar rim and one of the back spikes. He looped his chain around the Thunthen's upper jaw and pulled backwards, buying Ryo enough time to scramble to his feet and attempt to fit his ruined helmet back onto his head. Mal Daggur staggered back a step, and each time he tried to pitch forward and toss Anubis off, Anubis tugged up sharply. While he wrestled with the Noble, the other Ronin spread out into a surround. Mal Daggur glanced to either side out the corners of his eyes.

Sehkmet lunged and slashed at the Noble's throat. Mal Daggur pitched himself backwards just in time, but not before the Snake Fang Sword sliced off a few fibers from the orange beard. He scowled angrily and lashed upwards with his muzzle, striking Anubis in the face and dazing him long enough for Mal Daggur to grab him by the ankle and toss him away. Ryo had mandated weapons only, but it seemed every surface of the Noble's body could be utilized as such.

* * *

"Why do you _insist_ on waiting? You were the first to advocate swift and bloody retribution, yet now you stay your wrath and that of everyone else?" the burly Geiro snarled as he paced about the forward base on the reddened, rocky landscape of Planet Thunthen.

"We must wait for the scouts to return and confirm the enemy forces' position," Azuro replied calmly from where he leaned against a wind-scoured pillar.

"I say we execute the lot of them! Down to the last dame and hatchling!"

"We did not come here to slaughter dames and hatchlings. I understand your anger, believe me. I came very close to losing many family members-" Azuro recoiled when Geiro leaned close.

"I **_LOOOOOOOOST_** MY FAMILY! ALL OF THEM!" he screamed into Azuro's face. Tendons and veins bulged out on the Thangien's neck and his face flushed deep red. "NOT THE YOUNGEST OF MY SIBLINGS SURVIVED!" Azuro grimaced and turned away.

"You have every right to be upset, Geiro," Nalore spoke up softly. "But Witheren herself would damn us if we struck the Thunthen unjustly. We need proof that the attack was an effort by the majority, and not merely a handful of dissidents."

"What was it RoweTakin's fiancée called it: a smoldering firearm?" Phaeryn commented and ran a slender hand through his bangs. Geiro backed away from Azuro, seething, but silent. "We cannot attack with vengeance in our hearts. We must remember those who we love now and those before them whom we have lost. Keuireen…" Phaeryn whispered and bowed his head.

"Aulioch," Nalore closed her eyes.

"Ramhethet," Geiro muttered solemnly.

"Rothenn…" Azuro finished.

"Bah. We should not even speak _his_ name!" Geiro sneered.

"We speak it so that we do not forget. Rothenn let despair taint his soul. We cannot allow ourselves to make the same mistake," Azuro reminded. Geiro grumbled sourly and folded his arms. The four of them looked upwards as a whistling Pegasi spiraled in for a landing.

"Azurotago, we searched the farthest corners from horizon to heavens, but we can find no trace of their main fleet. Not the super carriers, not even Maw of Flame," the young scout said.

"Impossible. If they repositioned their fleet for another assault, we would have noticed," Phaeryn remarked. "What about their cities? What of their Nobles and Commons?"

"None of their sires and matrons could be found. Only dames, hatchlings, and Peasants occupy their capitals. …Perhaps they fled en-masse, fearing our attack?" the scout said timidly.

"They are not so craven they would leave their planet wholly undefended," Nalore sniffed.

"But why would they leave with their entire fleet? I cannot make sense of it…" Azuro rubbed his forehead with his palm. "Why kindle our wrath then forsake their home world? Unless…" His eyes widened in dawning realization. "Thanged was never the real target!"

* * *

For all his size and bulk, the Thunthen proved to be disturbingly nimble as he parried slashing attacks by Sage and Tanya with his claws and blocked thrusts from Cale and Cye with his tail and shell. He caught Cale's right wrist with one hand and locked his left into the claw gauntlet. "You call _those_ claws? More like knives…fit for slicing only bread!" Mal Daggur taunted then squeezed, crushing the claw gauntlet as well as Cale's hand. While Cale yowled in agony, Mal Daggur wrest his sword out of his hand and gripped it with both hands. With terrifying ease, he quickly snapped the blade in half and tossed the hilt half aside before stabbing the other half into Cale's right shoulder. He seized the Elder Ronin by the black crests on his chest plate and whirled him around, slamming him into Dais as he descended from his perch.

Sage raised his nodatchi for a crushing slash, but Mal Daggur neatly caught the blade between two claws and thrust up with his tail club, catching Sage in the gut and knocking the air out of his lungs. While Sage coughed and struggled to recover, the Noble slashed him in the chest twice, carving a deep X in the armor. Cye stabbed with his trident and drove the Noble away.

Cye gasped when Mal Daggur grabbed the shaft of the trident with both hands and shoved the butt of the shaft into Cye's gut. The Noble used his right knee as a fulcrum and pushed down on the other end of the weapon, striking Cye again in the face with the shaft. He whirled to strike Cye with his tail club while the warrior remained disoriented, but had to stagger back to avoid a swarm of spinning blades. He used the gauntlet on his right arm to shield his face and waited for the blades to retreat before directing his attention to the lithe Lady Ronin.

Tanya had no witty verbal barbs to hurl as the Thunthen stomped towards her. Nothing she'd ever faced before prepared her for such a brutal combatant. Fighting down uncertainty, she crouched and somersaulted into the air, planning to let the Noble charge past and land behind him, striking when the opportunity presented itself. Mal Daggur tilted his head up and grinned.

Tanya yelped when powerful jaws clamped around her abdomen. The tips of the Noble's teeth ground against the metal as he staggered back, trying to reassert balance. Tanya flailed her arms and legs about and glared at the Thunthen. Mal Daggur spotted the rest of Ronin closing in with one eye and Tanya drawing one of her Windblade daggers with the other. Tanya raised the blade, aiming to drive it into the fiend's eye.

Mal Daggur bit down hard enough to crack the pink secondary layer into thumb-sized fragments. He bit down hard enough to send spider-web cracks radiating through the white primary layer. He bit down hard enough to cause Tanya to shriek in a way no one had ever before heard from her. Tanya wailed tearfully as her insides burned, but Mal Daggur himself seemed mildly surprised that the Lady Ronin remained relatively whole. He relaxed his jaws, planning to bite a second time, but had to spit out the woman's body to avoid slashes from Ryo.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Ryo screamed, himself forgetting his own edict and attacking with swords ablaze. Mal Daggur didn't seem the slightest bit perturbed and skipped backwards neatly. Tanya had landed on the pavement and struggled to stand, but only managed to crawl her hands along the ground with her fingertips. She tried to gulp down her tears and contribute in some way to the battle with her blade launcher, but each time she worked up the strength to take aim, a fresh spasm of pain robbed her of even that.

"He'll pick us off one at a time at this rate! Surround him! Attack from all sides, at once!" Anubis shouted. By now Dais, Sage, and Cye had recovered and rejoined the fight, blocking the Noble's retreat. Mal Daggur looked more crafty than concerned and turned his head from side to side, studying their positions. Sage tensed for a slashing charge, Dais began whirling his nunchucks, and Cye readied his trident for a deadly thrust. Anubis whirled his chain about, Kento flexed his grip about his bo, and Ryo crouched for a spring. Corrosive venom dripped from the edges of Sehkmet's swords, eating holes in the pavement. They attacked.

Mal Daggur easily demonstrated why his species aptly earned the epithet 'dragonmen'. He blocked Dais' nunchucks with his right arm and turned his torso to the side so that Anubis' claw chain grazed past. He lashed his tail low, knocking Cye's feet out from under him, then in the same motion clubbed Ryo in the side of the head, nearly knocking the already-damaged helmet off Ryo's head. He ducked under Sage's slash and head-butted him fiercely, punching holes in the chest plate with his horns and sending Sage flying. He grabbed Kento's wrist and flung him away then brought his claws up in time to catch Sehkmet's blades between two pairs of claws.

Long-dormant hatred burned in Sehkmet's eyes as he locked gazes with the wicked Thunthen. Mal Daggur merely laughed softly, but quickly frowned when he heard a wet sizzle and saw pinkish liquid eating away at the ivory-white spikes on his fingertips. He glanced down and spotted the other four of Sehkmet's swords in their scabbards. Mal Daggur pulled Sehkmet's blades up then pushed away, disorienting Sehkmet long enough for the Noble to seize two swords by the hilt and draw them out of their scabbards. He tested the relatively small grips in his large hands and turned the hilts about, pointing the swords downward.

"How considerate of you: to bring spares!" Mal Daggur roared and plunged the swords into Sehkmet's shoulders. Sehkmet-so used to inflicting indescribable agony unto his opponents-found himself unable to put to words the feeling of having his own weapons being driven through his armor and through the skin where his flesh joined his arms to the chest. He cried out and staggered away, losing balance and landing on his back against the pavement.

Ryo lay on his side, knocked ten kinds of dizzy from the impact. His blurry gaze made out his still-suffering sister and the newly-injured Sehkmet floundering over the ground. He tried to push himself to stand, but instead of bracing his palms against the pavement, his arms kept moving in completely opposite directions than what he meant to do. Between blurs of his sight, he spotted Sage and Cye recover and redouble their efforts to bring down the treacherous Noble.

Mal Daggur demonstrated his prehensile tail by seizing Sage by the ankle and swinging him against Dais, knocking them both unconscious. He ducked down to avoid a thrust by Cye and backhanded the Ronin Warrior, sending him skidding. Before he had a chance to stalk after him, a heavy black chain wrapped around his arms and bound them fast. Mal Daggur growled, upset for the first time during the fight as Anubis tugged sharply, forcing the Noble to face him.

Unable to properly maneuver with his claws, the Noble's feet scraped against the pavement as Anubis began pulling. Genuinely concerned, Mal Daggur glanced to either side and saw Kento and Cye approaching with weapons readied. The Noble glanced down at the chain then at Anubis, furrowing the thick orange eyebrows. His lips spread in a grin and he twitched his claws up enough to poke through the individual links. He tugged the chain down and wrapped his fingers around it and began bunching lengths up around his fists. Now, he began pulling Anubis towards _him_. Anubis struggled to stand his ground, but the two drew steadily closer.

Mal Daggur released the chain abruptly, and the sudden slack caused Anubis to stagger back a step. Kento swung up and down, aiming to strike the Noble in the back of the head, and Cye lunged, intending to drive his trident through the spiked shell and the Noble's spine. Mal Daggur pivoted on his heels, crouched, and threw his body backwards. Anubis barely had time to gasp before the spiked shell collided with him and sent the both of them crashing against a wall.

Anubis had closed his eyes from the force of the impact, and dust and chips of debris hung around his face in a cloud. He opened his eyes and widened them, horrified by the sight of the uttermost tip of one of the shell spikes resting close enough to his face that his eyelashes brushed against it as he blinked in shock. He wore no helmet, and so he had no face mask to call down and protect his face. He dared not move even the slightest bit.

Mal Daggur craned his blocky face about and glanced at Anubis, amused. He leaned forward, preparing to push backwards, but Kento charged into him from the side and shoved him away. Anubis promptly clamed a hand over his face, blinking several times to make sure his eyes remained intact. He summoned his helmet and quickly donned it before readying his chain again.

Kento refused to relent in his attack, and for the first time in the battle, Mal Daggur found himself losing ground before the flurry of thrusts and strikes. He slashed with his claws and swung his tail club, but Kento found these tactics quite familiar and easily adapted to counter. Mal Daggur seemed surprised at first, but then bared his teeth in a smile, as if delighted to have found someone capable of matching his might. Much of Mal Daggur's skill relied on using his weight effectively and keeping his body moving forward, so as long as Kento kept him on the run, he could not use his most valuable weapons.

Kento forgot about the teeth, however, and yelped when Mal Daggur swung down and clamped his jaws about the bo. Kento tried to wrestle it free of the powerful grip, but Mal Daggur reached up with both hands and gripped the shaft. He opened his jaws and leaned back then-much to Kento's horror-began lifting up, causing Kento's feet to leave the ground. Kento huffed angrily and tried to swing up and strike the Noble in the throat with his heels. Mal Daggur beat him to the punch: literally, by thrusting up with his tail club and belting Kento in the chest. The blow sent Kento bouncing against the pavement, and his bo clattered away from where it fell. Kento pushed himself onto his elbows and spotted his weapon then reached for it.

He yelped again when he felt something snatch him by the left ankle and drag him away sharply. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Mal Daggur held him with his tail. The Thunthen began lashing from side to side, dragging Kento in an arc. Each time he came near enough to his weapon to reach out and grab it, the Noble pulled him away. The Thunthen dragged him to and fro so much; Kento had to call down his face mask as his right cheek had been skinned raw from scraping against the pavement.

Mal Daggur found his fun cut short when Anubis hurled his claw chain into his back hard enough to dig into the enamel composing the shell. Mal Daggur grunted in annoyance and flung Kento away before turning to deal with the Elder Ronin. Anubis retracted his chain then hurled again. As he anticipated, Mal Daggur caught the chain neatly, but at the same time, Anubis pounced with sickle raised to bury it into the Thunthen's chest. The Noble seemed quite fond of using his shell as a weapon, however, and crouched forward. Anubis had to adjust his trajectory and landed on the rim of the shell once again, but cried out when Mal Daggur toppled backwards, intending to pin the Ronin against the pavement.

Anubis barely scrambled away in time, but instead of the spikes plunging into the ground, Mal Daggur twisted his body to the side and pressed his palms against the pavement. He lashed out with a surprise kick and caught Anubis in the chest with his heel. Mal Daggur then seized Anubis by the ankle and swung him around and around several times merrily before releasing him and sending him tumbling down the street far away from the battleground. His body rolling and bouncing over the pavement tore his surcoat to tatters and bent the left-side helmet crest before he finally came to a stop after crashing into a parking meter.

Mal Daggur hissed angrily when high-pressure water streams cut into his arms and legs. He whirled around and glared at Cye, who held his trident aimed like a rifle. Mal Daggur growled then grinned and snorted before charging. Cye fired repeatedly, but the Noble's own colorful armor proved quite effective in absorbing damage. The Thunthen ducked and weaved, avoiding even more shots, and Cye gasped in horror upon seeing the Noble looming up before him. Mal Daggur turned to the side and snared Cye with his tail, pinning his arms to his sides and forcing him to drop his trident. Mal Daggur lifted him up close enough for nose to touch snout.

"For shaaame…" Mal Daggur whispered and began thrashing the Ronin of Trust against the pavement; again and again, over and over until Cye hung limp in the coiled tail. "*_tsk tsk_* You don't look very dapper today, young man. Perhaps you should lie down and rest." Mal Daggur chuckled and released Cye, unceremoniously dropping him to the ground. He tapped Cye on the back briefly with his tail club before walking away to pace about the worksite. He came across Kento, who had pushed himself to his knees and crawled towards his weapon. Kento grunted in protest when Mal Daggur pressed a foot against his back and forced him onto his belly.

"THAT'S ENOUGH!" Mal Daggur raised an eyebrow and turned around, confused. He glanced about the worksite then looked up and saw a blue-and-silver armored figure hovering.

"Ahh…so it was you who gave my crew such a fright. I applaud you, young man; to have recovered in a matter of hours from something that took the ecosystem of Planet Banguk decades," Mal Daggur complemented smoothly and lifted himself up onto Kento's back, crushing the fallen warrior's stomach into the ground painfully.

"I may be sworn to protect life, in all forms, but I have no problem with taking yours. Not after what you did to my friends," Rowen stated coldly and fit an arrow to the string. The shaft began rippling with energy. "A creature like you has no soul worth saving."

"Ah ah ah, we negotiated the terms of engagement previously," Mal Daggur waggled a claw. "Only natural weapons and skill. No energy-based attacks."

"Well, seeing as how I just recently regained consciousness, those terms don't apply to me."

"Your friends are still here. You would injure them in the process of getting to me," Mal Daggur chuckled and turned from side to side, looking at the fallen warriors strewn over the pavement around him. He slipped his foot under Kento's prone form and kicked him to the side.

Rowen smirked and drew back on the cord. "We can focus our powers." Mal Daggur looked alarmed as the glow intensified in the arrow shaft. "ARROW…" Mal Daggur took a step back, but Rowen kept his aim trained on him. "SHOCK…"

Cye had managed to rise to hands and knees shakily and started crawling towards his trident when Rowen had arrived. He reached out and his fingertips graced the shaft, but without warning, something coiled around his thighs. "WAVE!" Rowen unleashed his power the second Mal Daggur yanked Cye forward and tossed him up infront of him. The Noble grabbed him by the arms and raised him as a shield. Cye got less than a second to stare the wicked Thunthen in the eyes before all of Rowen's fury poured against him.

At first he felt nothing, since his armor protected him, but the energy still produced heat which began radiating through the metal plates. Mal Daggur gazed up into Cye's face and bared his teeth in a pleased smile. Rowen had yet to notice his mistake, as he saw only a focused surge of light from where he hovered. The heat became scalding, and Cye threw back his head and screamed. Rowen's brow remained furrowed in a furious scowl until he heard the faint cries.

"What?!" Rowen exclaimed and lowered his bow, canceling his power. His eyes widened in horror when he saw Cye hanging in the Noble's grip. Wisps of steam rose from the back plate before cracks spread through the metal and shards began peeling away, clattering to the ground. More and more shards fell, exposing the black mesh primary layer, and even that began fraying.

"Hmm…" Mal Daggur peered over Cye's shoulder and reached over with a claw, touching the tearing edges of the mesh and poking Cye's reddened flesh beneath. "It would seem the material indeed possesses a stress tolerance to concentrated energy…interesting…"

"What have I done…" Rowen whispered, utterly stunned. He gasped when he saw Mal Daggur spring into the air higher than he thought possible from such a large beast. He tried to ascend out of reach, but the Noble caught him by the ankles and pulled him down beneath him. Mal Daggur moved his hands to Rowen's shoulders and brought his feet forward, bracing them against Rowen's stomach. The Thunthen's weight crushed Rowen into the pavement hard enough to leave a deep impression. Mal Daggur hunkered over the Ronin's body.

_"High Overlord!"_ A thin voice hissed from the crested blue gauntlet.

"What? I specifically stated-" Mal Daggur growled and raised his right arm.

_"Thangiens have been sighted exiting the Gate. Ander's son is among them!"_ Mal Daggur frowned in dismay and his nostrils twitched as he sniffed.

"I must apologize. It seems I won't be able to mete out the same humiliation upon you as I dealt your friends," he said to Rowen softly and stood up, tapping the chest plate with his tail club a few times. He walked over to where Ryo lay and lifted him by the armor collar. He reached up with one hand and neatly pulled off the helmet. "I must admit, I'm deeply disappointed. Ander put up a better fight than the lot of you, and he had no armor. He had no 'mystical powers'." Ryo- half out of his mind with pain and quite groggy-blinked many times and shook his head. He saw his own face reflected many times in Mal Daggur's teeth.

"I won't do you the honor of devouring you as I did with Ander." The remark jolted Ryo out of his daze and he stared at the Noble, horrified. "I'll leave you here to explain to your allies-while they still consider you as such- how all ten Morind de Witheren failed to defeat a lone Thunthen Noble. It seems the Maiden of Blood has forsaken you." Mal Daggur sniffed and dropped Ryo to the ground. He turned to leave but paused and raised a claw.

"Oh…I almost forgot…Tell your 'friends' when they arrive; if Thanged attempts to retaliate in force, I _will_ fire the _Vyerrdeklagn_. And we wouldn't want that, now would we…" Mal Daggur narrowed his eyes cunningly before departing into the shadows.

* * *

"Azurotago, why do we make with such haste to Oldworld?" Geiro shouted above the roar of atmospheric entry. All four Metraind plunged through the air above Japan.

"If my fears are true, we may already be too late!" Azuro replied. Skywrath let out a concerned grumble and tossed his head. "Skywrath detects the trail of a troopship. Hurry!"

The Pegasi arrowed into the city of Toyama and wove past buildings until they reached a wide area lit by many floodlights. Phaeryn blinked in disbelief when he spotted someone he recognized as Aruian Wrathrider shambling towards several figures lying throughout the site. He reined his Pegasi about and alighted nearby, appalled at the condition of the warrior's armor.

Nalore dismounted and ran over to where Tiua Windrider lay on her stomach. Her bold pink armor looked like a mosaic. Geiro looked aghast from Sahat Venomrider-who had been skewered with his own swords, to Sean Waverider-whose shattered armor exposed his blistering skin.

"RyoTakin! Ryo! Ryo!" Azuro shouted and knelt beside the Ronin Leader. "What happened here? Who did this?" Azuro grabbed him by the shoulders and tried to help him sit.

"Mal…Mal…Dagg…ur…" Ryo whispered before losing consciousness.

While the Metraind administered emergency aid to the fallen Ronin, a petite figure observed from on high on the roof of a building. Dainty fingers tapped against pearl-white armguards. Black air long enough to reach the knees whipped about the shoulders from the night breeze.

_Only one…how interesting_… small lips spread in a childish grin.


	23. Truly Noble

Truly Noble

By Mardrena

"_Mal_ Daggur?! You fought MAL DAGGUR?!" Danae exclaimed from where she sat at the head of the dining room table. Dais stood beside her and had a hand on her shoulder.

"Well, we didn't so much fight him as we got our butts literally handed to us," Sage admitted. Danae's eyes widened and she reached up and raked her fingers through her hair. Her amethyst eyes looked desperate and darted from side to side.

"Ohuin…ohuin…This…this never should have happened! This was not supposed to happen! This is all wrong! The Thunthen are _our_ enemies! They were supposed to engage us on _our_ world, not Oldworld!? How could they have…" Danae's brow furrowed and she looked up. "OH! OHH! I led them to your very doorstep! We were fools! Fools to think they would remain idle!" she wailed and pressed her palm against her cheek, slumping against the table.

"Mal Daggur said they followed you and Pegasus here. I'm guessing they moved their entire fleet to the Sol System thinking we'd be easier pickings," Dais stated.

"I should have known! I suspected as much back when-ohuin! Ohuin!" Danae buried her face into her palms and wept. Dais patted her on the back consolingly.

"Well…didn't you say the gods changed your course and dropped you and Pegasus here instead?" Kento brought up, able to speak despite the thick pad of gauze taped over his right cheek. "If anything, you should be blaming them, not yourself." The remark only made Danae wail more profusely, as well as earned Kento scalding glares from the others in the room.

"Mal Daggur may have forbidden the Watch-Rider from dispatching an army, but the Metraind are an army unto themselves. We will maintain vigil over Oldworld," Phaeryn brought up from where he and the other Metraind stood near the wall. Azuro pushed away and walked into the hall in a huff. Anubis noticed this and walked after him quietly.

"Is there something you want to say?" Anubis demanded. Azuro looked at him and frowned.

"I find my faith shaken… For our heroes whom we have sung and celebrated about to be struck down with such ease…it is disheartening." Azuro replied and turned away.

"If you people want to bail like you did _last_ time, by all means, go on ahead." Azuro glared at Anubis sharply. Ryo had confided in him about the Thangien's retreat during the first attack by the Totalitary. "We've been through worse. _Much_ worse, believe me. We'll manage; with or _without_ your support," Anubis sneered and walked back to the dining room.

* * *

"If there…were such a thing…as a-" Shannon paused speaking as she tweezed pieces of blackened tissue away from Cye's back and dropped them into a metal pan. "_Fifth_-degree burn, I'd wager you have the first case _I've_ ever laid eyes on," she remarked. Cye lay on his stomach in bed while Britania sat close to his shoulders and Shannon sat by his side.

"Damn that Mal Daggur…'fair fight' my *_ngh_*" he winced from the sting of air against raw flesh. "Burned and bloodied backside…" he grumbled and rest his chin against his arms.

"Sorry we have to use the Richtho leaves on you. I know how much you hate the Thangiens," Britania apologized as she shook loose leaves from their damp wrappings.

"I don't hate the Thangiens, I just don't agree with them," Cye muttered.

"It's all well and good then, seeing as how these babies are the only thing curbing infection and keeping your skin from leaking pus like the Hoover Dam," Shannon commented. Cye grimaced from the thought and Brianna suppressed a giggle. "I dunno if it's because of Earth soil or not, but they grow pretty darn fast. They might be considered a weed in some ecosystems, but I guess the leaves get harvested fast enough to keep them in check."

"Rowen still beating himself up?" Cye asked softly.

"You know he is. He couldn't call himself your friend if he wasn't."

"You know what's so bad about all this? Danae's mom wanted her to stay on Earth to avoid the war, and now their enemies show up here of all places. Talk about bad luck," Brit sighed.

"The Thunthen haven't blockaded the Gate yet, so Aurora was at least able to come and help out around here," Cye stated.

"I'm still having trouble believing you suffered this kind of damage. You'd think your armor would've protected you," Brit remarked as she layered a leaf over Cye's shoulder blades.

"I don't think they were meant to use their powers on each other…" Shannon said.

"Well…there _was_ this one incident a few years back…but yah, the circumstances differed greatly from last night," Cye chuckled then frowned and pressed his mouth against his arm.

"_The metal was brittle to begin with…"_ He couldn't douse the worry in his mind.

* * *

"I expected a great deal more inflammation than this. I don't know whether to be relieved or alarmed," Mia remarked as she inspected the flesh around the stab wounds in Sehkmet's upper chest. Blood vessels looked surprisingly subdued, and the flesh relatively pink and healthy.

"I've got a natural immunity to my own venom…Buuuut, of course being stabbed with your own swords still hurts like a bitch," Sehkmet chuckled, grimacing when the movement stretched the mending tissue slightly. Mia rolled up moist Richtho leaves and taped one over each entry and exit wound. "I'm sorry you have to be the one stuck tending me."

"What? Why on Earth would you say something like that?" Mia chided.

"Well…you know…because…" Sehkmet trailed off and averted his gaze.

"…Oh! Oh, don't be silly. I can't blame you for what happened. You were following orders. It was unfortunate, but unavoidable. I'm not the sort of person to hold grudges."

"Just because you say you don't doesn't mean some part of you doesn't."

"You're probably right but…well…you know how the Thangiens always say 'forgiveness can only be earned'? I think you earned yours a long time ago…but you still try your darn hardest," Mia grinned and tousled the thick green hair. Sehkmet smiled appreciatively. "Besides, you should be feeling sorrier for Kayura. She's stuck dealing with Cale. You think he'd never broken a bone before in his life," Mia rolled her eyes and taped gauze over the leaves.

"Oh he has. I just don't think 'sack of broken china' is a phrase he's heard used before."

* * *

Ryo clutched onto the rail with both hands as he shambled downstairs, moving one foot at a time. His toes dragged against the steps, and at one point he had to pause and grab his right leg with his right hand and push it down towards the next step. He continued creeping down step by step, sliding his hands along the rail inch by inch.

"Stop! Stop! You're going end up slipping if you keep doing that," Mia scolded as she scurried down to the side of him and held him by the shoulder.

"I'm starting to think something got knocked loose up here. I haven't been able to move right since last night," Ryo whispered and shook his head.

"I think it has less to do with what got hurt up there than what got hit in here," Mia tapped his head with a fingertip then poked at his chest above his heart. She guided him towards the dining table and pulled a chair out for him. "And that's not the worst part. Can you imagine the morale high Mal Daggur's people must be on, after hearing how he beat all ten of you in single combat?"

"I should've just listened to Sehk and Tanya…we could've just wiped him out with our powers and none of this would've happened…" Ryo sighed as he eased himself into the chair.

"Now Ryo, what kind of example would you be setting for the Ronin Warriors if you solved every problem with your armor's powers?"

"Uh…Mia…the only way we beat all our enemies back then _was_ by using our powers."

"Well, things were different. Legendary armored warriors or not, you were all still quite green. But you've come a long way from those times, and all though sometimes you tend to act otherwise, you all have matured a great deal," Mia comforted with a smile, and Ryo chuckled in response. "Given what happened to Cye, I doubt it would have made much difference. I think it'll end up being better in the long run that you lost without using your powers than if you had and had wiped out an entire block in the process. You'll just have to rest and recover and learn from what happened, and be that much more prepared for the next time."

"Assuming there _is_ a next time and we don't all get fried."

"If Mal Daggur really wanted to wipe out the human race, he would've done it by now. He thinks he can toy with us and make us suffer, just like Talpa. And just like Talpa, that'll prove his downfall," Mia insisted and hugged Ryo's shoulders. Ryo leaned against her and sighed. He looked up when he heard footsteps coming downstairs quickly and saw Sage.

"I'm going out on patrol tonight. The Thunthen might try attacking, and someone should be out in the city to give everyone a heads up," Sage announced and changed into sub-armor.

"Whoa, you're going out alone? You can't do that. Someone should go with you," Ryo protested and tried to stand up, faltering as he did so.

"Like who? Rowen's helping Aurora and Kayura with Cale, Anubis is with his daughter, and Kento's helping the others around the house. Dais won't leave Danae's side, and you can barely stand much less hold a sword. I'm one of the few who didn't end up with my ass in a sling. I'd rather be doing something more productive than just reflecting and regretting," Sage snorted and turned around. "ARMOR OF HALO!" The glow filled the entire room before subsiding.

"Sage." Sage looked over his shoulder. "If it had been your call…would you have done things differently?" Ryo asked calmly. Sage stared at him levelly.

"No. No I wouldn't," he replied before teleporting.

* * *

"Tanya?" Kento rapped his knuckle on the door cautiously before pushing it open and entering the room carrying a laden breakfast tray. He, Anubis, Sage, Rowen, and Dais were the only Ronin to escape serious injury from last night's battle, so he took it upon himself to help tend to the injured. The Lady Ronin lay in bed straight on her back and stared up at the ceiling listlessly. Bandages covered her entire midsection from her waist to her upper ribcage.

He still remembered vividly after they'd brought her home, how they had to remove the intact pieces of her armor manually, and the shattered pieces they had to peel like the shell from a boiled egg. He'd never before seen a person's flesh look literally black-and-blue. Kento set the tray up close to the nightstand, being mindful not to bump into it and risk upsetting the short display that held the preserved blossom from the Pairing.

"Here. I brought you some tea and soup. And some straws, just in case it still hurts to sit up. I brought you a cup of Richtho tea too. I know you think the stuff literally tastes like shit-and it probably does- but it should help fix your insides good as new in no ti-"

Tanya slowly tilted her head to the side. Kento recalled the look in her eyes the first time she battled the Night Warlords on her own. That time she had faked her condition to fool Scar after she'd defeated the others. This time, however, her expression looked very much genuine.

"…I'll just…leave this here…um…let me know if you need anything else…" Kento muttered softly before standing up and leaving, throwing a worried glance over his shoulder. Tanya returned her gaze to the ceiling. Mal Daggur had crushed more than just her internal organs.

* * *

_How despicable of Mal Daggur to force us into such a situation. The only thing separating us from our enemies is how we use our powers, and there's a fine line between being a Ronin Warrior and being a Dark Warlord._ Sage scowled as he perched on a rooftop. _The worst part of it all is the Thangiens had so much hope riding on us, and we betrayed their trust. How can we be expected to save the entire_ universe _from the Enemy if we can't beat a single Noble?_

"Eeeshh…ahhhg…I swahr I'll nevah touch da stuff again!" Sage raised an eyebrow and looked down when he saw a portly drunkard staggering through the alley. The man raised a liquor bottle and blinked at the label then flung it at a wall, where it shattered and spilt its contents all over the pavement. "Pink elephants? No, I freakin' saw a dinosaur!"

Sage's eyes widened upon hearing that and he glanced along the alley in the opposite direction from where the man had staggered. He caught a faint glimpse of a tall shadow moving through the dim light. He jogged along the roof's edge, keeping his gaze trained on the ground below. The shadow moved around a corner and Sage sprang to the adjacent rooftop to follow. He saw a spiked tail club move briefly through the faulty light of a back exit. So far his quarry gave no indication of having sensed his presence and continued walking leisurely.

He tensed then leapt down and landed in the intruder's path. "What do you want? Why have you come here?" Sage asked firmly and pointed his nodatchi at the throat of a seven-foot tall Noble. Unlike Mal Daggur, it had dark blue-gray eyebrows, head crest, and beard. Gray gauntlets with purple crests covered the forearms, and dark blue crested pads covered the shoulders. It wore navy-blue chest armor with a purple pad over the abdomen. A skirt of thick leather bands with metal studs draped over the hips. Lavender shin guards covered the legs.

The Noble stared at him with light green eyes and blinked calmly. "A question he asks," he spoke in a thick accent that sounded vaguely Russian. "Not a threat. Not a demand. Is it a sign of weakness; for someone to value the life of even his enemies?" Sage raised an eyebrow, confused by the oddly eloquent words. "Or is it a simple gesture of courtesy: The mark of one who follows the path of wisdom?" Sage's eyes slowly widened. "Auji Lightrider."

Not even from the Thangiens had he heard his 'stage name' before. Sage lowered his sword just a bit. A bit proved a bit too much, and the Noble swatted Sage's sword out of his grip with his tail club then turned to the side and wrapped his tail around Sage's arms. His tail looked considerably shorter than that of Mal Daggur's, so he held Sage closer as he examined him.

Sage grimaced from the bursts of air being snorted into his face as the Noble held his muzzle within an inch of his nose. The Thunthen cocked his head from side to side, examining Sage from every possible angle before leaning back and rising to his full height. "It seems I've chosen correctly," the Noble said and set Sage down then nudged his tail club over to the fallen sword. He slipped one of the spikes under the blade and flicked it into the air. Sage watched, amazed at the deft movements as the Noble bounced the sword higher and higher by tapping the blade from below until the Noble reached out and held the sword in his claws.

"A dererium jacket…with a hardened steel core emanating a most peculiar form of energy…" the Noble whispered and leaned close, sniffing the blade. "Oh…what's this?" The Noble sniffed the blade where it joined into the hilt and arched an eyebrow. "Oh…Ander…you clever, clever man…so…Yainae bore you a Crafter, did she…" The Thunthen turned the sword around and held the hilt out to Sage. "This is a magnificent weapon."

Sage could have easily seized the sword and driven it into the Noble's gut. Instead, he gripped it carefully and pulled it back before sheathing it and setting it aside. "Who…who are you?" Sage raised an eyebrow. The Noble coiled his tail around his ankle.

"My name is Bak Thraplek, and I seek both asylum _and_ alliance with the Morind de Witheren. You might find it difficult to believe, but there are many of us who find the tactics of the Daggur clan-particularly the recent attack on Bainshaebo-quite reprehensible. We Thunthen are warriors as fearsome as the Thangiens, and we prefer to match them in open combat with blade against claw." Bak Thraplek flexed his fingers and displayed the six-inch long claws.

"The Pegacorns long enabled the Thangiens to oppose us in space, and Mal Daggur hoped to permanently remove the Thangien's mode of transport by engineering the very same plague which nearly eradicated the species. He thought he'd succeeded, but he forgot about the Lady of Flames. Through her skill, the Pegacorn were reborn into the Pegasi, and gifted with firepower that would shame even the mightiest of our carriers. Once more, Mal Daggur sought to undermine these efforts, resulting in the exile of Pegasus from Thanged.

"So here I stand now, carrying perhaps a faint hope and a perilous mission to end ages-old discord between our two peoples. I would approach your leader, Raeo Flamerider, and pledge my loyalty and service to your cause. I'm not a traitor to my kind. I merely act out of love for my kin, and to fulfill a pact I made with an old friend long since dead."

"Well…wow, this is just…unexpected…you know…it's been said that Thangiens and Thunthen would have to join forces to face the Enemy in the End Tide…"

"Entide? Pfft, prophecies and portents; poppycock," the Noble scoffed and waved a hand, earning a look of mild surprise from Sage. "We don't believe in Fate, but we do believe in the existence of Powers in the universe: great, ancient Powers and not all of them benevolent."

"What should I do?" Sage asked cautiously and retrieved his sword scabbard.

"Present the notion to your leader. Gauge his reaction. Whatever it might be, I'll be waiting in this very spot for your verdict." Bak Thraplek carved a circle in the pavement around his feet with his tail club and tapped the ground once.

"How can you be sure I won't come back at all? Or that we'll return and kill you?"

"The same way you could be sure that I wouldn't have caved your face in before you even reached the ground." The Noble pointed a claw at a tiny hole on the side of the head an inch or so below the horn. "Just because our ears aren't that visible doesn't mean they're any less effective. Believe me, Auji Lightrider; I've everything to lose and nothing to gain."

"Allright…I'll see what Ryo thinks…" Sage crouched and sprang back to the rooftop. "Oh, and Bak?" The Noble tilted his face up towards him. "My name is Sage Date."

* * *

Kento walked past the bedrooms carrying a food tray for Sehkmet. He paused when he heard a curiously familiar sound coming from Tanya's room and backtracked, peeking into the room through the partially-open door. He recognized the sound as a flute, the same as from the closing concert at the Pairing. Tanya currently practiced using the very same instrument. Apparently the Richtho tea enabled her to prop herself against the headboard and support her back with pillows.

He'd assumed she had borrowed it from someone there, but apparently the gold-entwined flute belonged to her. He thought that odd since he'd never seen it before, much less heard her using it. Tanya would pause every now and then and grimace, drawing in sharp breaths. Her insides seemed to still be bothering her, most likely her diaphragm. She waited a few more seconds before attempting to resume playing. She raised the flute to her lips but paused again.

Kento sucked in air through his teeth and flattened himself against the wall, pulling away from the door when he saw Tanya frown and start to raise her gaze to the door. He held his breath, and for a few moments considered risking a peek through the crack in the door hinge, but decided against it at the last second. He breathed very slowly then sighed in relief when he heard the playing resume. He risked another glance and saw that Tanya had her eyes closed while she practiced, so he proceeded down the hall towards his original destination.

He glanced over his shoulder at the door and smiled. She played quite beautifully.

* * *

Sage returned to the estate that morning, but no one remained awake to bother inquiring about what happened. He retired to his room and settled into bed but slept uneasily, dwelling on his encounter with the Noble. Bak certainly seemed more level-minded than Mal Daggur, and something else bothered Sage: the references he'd made to members of Danae's family. The way he said the names of her parents…almost as if he knew them _personally_… He even seemed to know about Australa just from detecting her scent on the sword.

_I couldn't sense anything evil about him…then again nothing about Mal Daggur screamed 'villain' until he started gloating about his 'conquests'. I feel like we can really trust Bak…but what I'm worried about is if the others will_ *allow* _themselves to trust a Thunthen._

He finally allowed himself to go to sleep for a few hours before waking up and venturing out into the hall. He spotted some of the others convening around the dining table. Cye's back had apparently healed enough to where he could move about freely. Cale, Sehkmet, and Tanya remained in bed, and Dais and Danae looked to be absent. Ryo seemed to be feeling better but stood leaning against the table with his palms braced against the surface.

"What if I came in quiet and attacked from the rear?" Rowen suggested.

"The hull is too strong to be breached from anywhere else other than the very throat of the beast itself," Nalore shook her head. "Even if you tried, you could not get past their sensors. They have seen you once before, they will know how to find you now."

"I could try with Inferno and just wipe out the entire ship…" Ryo began.

"You've never tested yourself flying in space," Kento reminded.

"What if we didn't have to fight at all?" Sage brought up as he headed downstairs.

"Come again?" Ryo raised an eyebrow and looked at him.

"Are you familiar with the story of Das Anazhar?"

"Name rings a bell…" Ryo squinted, vaguely remembering that Mal Daggur had mentioned it.

"He was a Thunthen warlord that lived over three thousand years ago. He was just as vicious as Mal Daggur and he challenged Thanged's queen at the time, one of Danae's ancestors. He called off his attack out of respect when she sacrificed herself for her people. He showed _compassion_ and _wisdom_, something you don't hear a lot of from other Thunthen.

"If humans and Thangiens have the same capacity for good and evil, doesn't it stand to reason the Thunthen would too. What if we could make contact with other Thunthen? Not all of them can possibly be as bad as Mal Daggur. Maybe we could reason with some of them, find some dissidents that aren't happy with how Mal Daggur's running things. There-"

"There is _no_ reasoning with a _Thunthen_!" Geiro shouted suddenly and stepped forward. "They would sooner tear us to pieces than trade words peacefully. Those _monsters_ killed tens of thousands of our people in the most dishonorable way imaginable."

"Yeah, but you can't assume they _all_ wanted things to happen that way," Cye argued. Sage glanced at him gratefully, but Geiro only scowled and bared his teeth.

"It matters not! If they _allowed_ it to happen, they are just as guilty as if they had done the deed themselves! Those _butchers_ killed my family. I will not forgive _any_ of them!" Ryo opened his mouth as if to speak, but Geiro turned on his heel and promptly exited the room. Ryo sighed heavily and glanced at Sage, shrugging helplessly. Sage let out a disappointed huff and turned to leave. Kento and Rowen went back to trading attack theories with input from Nalore and Phaeryn, but Cye watched after Sage and raised an eyebrow.

"Whoa Sage, where you going?" Ryo asked when he saw Sage headed for the door.

"I'm gonna go out on patrol again. It'll give me something to do."

"You already took last night's shift. Why don't you let me go out tonight," Rowen suggested.

"Uhh…no, you should probably stay here and help coordinate things with the Thangiens in case there's an attack. I'll give you a heads up if I see anything unusual," Sage replied and waved goodbye before leaving. Rowen didn't seem to think anything of it and went back to chatting with Kento and Ryo, but Azuro scowled slightly.

* * *

"Bak?" Sage whispered as he approached the area. A tall figure moved out from the shadows and stepped into the circle carved into the pavement.

"We Thunthen traditionally address each other by our complete names, but I suppose in this event, a more simplistic approach is fitting." Bak Thraplek coiled his tail around his ankle again.

"Ryo seemed open to the idea, but I don't think we can do anything as long as the Metraind are here. They'd kill you as soon as look at you. Why don't you try contacting your racial leader and tell him about what Mal Daggur's done? I'm sure he'd listen to reso-" Sage began.

"Mal Daggur _is_ our racial leader," Bak replied sadly. Sage frowned but kept quiet as Bak continued speaking. "In our culture, the strongest one alive holds absolute dominion. Mal Daggur _is_ Supreme High Overlord. As you might know, Das Anazhar and his descendants maintained peace between the Thangiens. While there were those who perceived peace as weakness, Das Anazhar's heirs remained in power for good reason. They were not to be trifled with.

"Over a hundred of your years ago, long before either of us were born, and long before Ander arrived, Sur Daggur and his cohorts staged what goes down in our history as the Dasphat Revolution; 'In Spite of Das Anazhar'. Sur Daggur rejected all tenets of passivity, and began a decades-long effort to fortify our armies. His forces clashed with the Ranks of Thanged, and as you know, the battle only ended with the Burning of Banguk. I am truly sorry Sage, but Sur Daggur and his clan have tainted our warrior hearts with dreams of conquest and plunder. Only by allying with the Morind de Witheren and the Thangiens can we hope to redeem our kind."

"Blood's running too hot to think of peace right now. Maybe we should wait for things to calm down," Sage recommended. Bak looked exasperated and folded his arms.

"Sage, things aren't _going_ to calm down; not as long as Mal Daggur has a gun the size of a rather large asteroid pointed at your head."

"I understand! Look, the Metraind can't stay here forever, right? Once the ten of us are all on the mend, maybe King Torke will recall them to Thanged. Then we can-" Sage frowned when he saw Bak go rigid and tilt his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"They're here," Bak said simply and let his arms hang at his sides. Sage gasped when a thin cord lashed out and wrapped around the Noble's upper arms, binding him tight. A second thicker cord wrapped around his wrists. Sage looked up, horrified to see all four Metraind descending.

"No! Stop! Get away from him!" Sage roared and sliced through the thinner cord. He tried cutting through the thicker cord but only managed to fray it half-way before Geiro slammed into him from the side. Phaeryn and Nalore landed on either side of the bound Noble and grabbed his shoulders, shoving him onto his knees roughly. Bak made no effort to escape. "He's not even fighting back! Leave him alone!" Sage kicked Geiro away and pointed his sword at the others.

"You would draw your weapon against your allies?" Geiro sneered.

"It depends on your definition of 'ally'," Sage growled and narrowed his eyes.

"Sage, that's enough!" Bak shouted abruptly. "If my submission is required to prove myself, then so be it. I came here to forge alliances, not shatter them."

"Silence, beast!" Phaeryn punched Bak in the muzzle sharply. Sage growled in protest and stepped forward, but Azuro intercepted him and grabbed him by his collar.

"You will take us back to your dwelling," he said to Sage's face with rigid anger. Sage glared at him then threw a worried glance at Bak, who kept his head down as if in defeat.

* * *

"I have to say Azuro, I _strongly_ object to you bringing this…" Mia sputtered and waved her hand, hesitating to call the hulking reptilian kneeling by the fireplace a 'person' or 'creature'. "…_Being_ into my household in such a manner! Surely you could've done so outside!"

"We brought him here so all could see this vile creature, so that all of you can bear witness to their inherent depravity!" Azuro kicked Bak in the leg.

"That was uncalled for!" Sage protested.

"_YOU_ be silent! RyoTakin, we followed him out of suspicion, but we never imagined we would uncover such blatant _treachery_! We observed him consorting with this beast, conspiring to act when you would be most vulnerable!" Geiro proclaimed and pointed at Bak again. Ryo's face wrinkled in an incredulous grimace and he glanced at Sage.

"That's BS and you know it," Kento snorted and folded his arms over his chest.

"That's a pretty heavy accusation to just go throwing around," Rowen added. Sage felt relieved that his friends still believed in him. He blinked in surprise when he spotted Cye towards the back of the room apparently chatting with Aurora. No one else seemed to notice, and Aurora seemed to be agreeing with Cye. She nodded once more before exiting the room. Azuro saw her leave and thought nothing of it, assuming she felt disgusted by the presence of the Thunthen.

"King Torke himself told me that we'd need to join forces with the Thunthen. I don't see what's so bad about at least _trying_ to form an alliance," Ryo argued. While Azuro and the Metraind continued spouting retorts and rhetoric, Danae and Dais lingered behind the others with Danae pacing from side to side, eyeing the bound Noble warily. Bak blinked and slowly tilted his head up, raising both eyebrows when he spotted Danae through the crowd.

"…I remember you…" he whispered. Ryo and Azuro looked at him when he spoke, but Bak's gaze remained fixed on Danae. "You're the daughter of Vai Stel Vethu."

"How _dare_ you speak that name!" Azuro punched Bak. "Only a Thangien would know it!"

"And only a Thangien would have told it to me. Stormwalker, you must remember…" Nalore and Phaeryn tensed when Bak began twitching his right arm, wriggling under the tight cords until he laid his right palm against his thigh. A jagged scar covered the back of his hand.

Dais hissed in warning when Danae began walking forward slowly, as if entranced. Phaeryn and Nalore likewise looked uneasy when she moved to the side of Bak and knelt down beside him. Danae pinched the fingertips of her left gauntlet and began peeling it off, exposing her bare hand and a most peculiar-looking scar. Dais had seen it before when they were alone and out of combat, but he assumed it to be merely an injury of the past.

Bak watched quietly as Danae set her palm against his thigh until the edge of her left hand met up alongside his right. The passage of years and growth of age had distorted the markings for the both of them, but when Danae pressed her fingertips against the skin on either side of the scar and stretched it outward, the scar crudely formed the double crescent and lightning bolt of the crest of the House of St'lur. Danae's eyes widened as a long-dormant memory awakened.

* * *

"This was all I could find of him…Mal Daggur didn't even leave a shred of his flesh behind." Hands belonging to a very young male Thunthen Noble raised a large sheathed sword with a cross-guard shaped like a diving bird and a pommel like that of a blunt crown. A lavender-haired woman dressed in thin robes and a cowl stared at the blade with sad amethyst eyes.

"Get it out of my sight. I have not the heart to look at it," she sniffed and looked away.

"As you wish," the young Noble nodded and carefully slipped the scabbard into a gap between his shell and back. At his age, he stood at eye-level with the woman, and frowned upon seeing the pain written in her face. He sighed and tilted his gaze to the floor of the estate. He raised a dark blue-and-gray eyebrow when he saw a pair of glittering amethyst eyes peeking at him from behind the folds of the woman's robe. "Who's this?" he cocked his head to the side.

"She is Ander's youngest…at least for the time being," the woman placed her hand over her abdomen briefly. The Noble knelt onto the floor and coiled his tail around his ankle. He leaned forward slightly, extending his muzzle towards the awestruck pair of eyes.

A child of less than a cycle stepped out from behind the woman cautiously. Wispy curls of lavender hair hung from her head and above her eyes. The Noble watched bemused as the girl reached up and patted his muzzle and stroked his beard, combing her chubby fingers through the scaly fibers. He glanced down at her small hands then placed his right hand on his knee and gently pinched her left wrist between two claws, drawing it towards him. He scooted to the side until the girl stood next to him and set her hand against his skin.

"What are you doing?" the woman demanded; alarmed, yet not upset when the Noble brandished a claw and poked the tip into the little girl's flesh.

"Making a pact," the Noble simply replied as he drew deeply the symbol of two crescents and a lightning bolt, covering the backs of both their hands. All the while the little girl remained quiet and stared in awe at the sight of blood seeping from her soft pink skin and how it looked not too much unlike the blood oozing from the yellowish-orange skin. The Noble reached into his shell once again and fished out a small container of a yellowish substance and unscrewed the cap. He fished out a daub of the substance and flicked it onto the back of his bleeding right hand.

"Remember the stories of your father: how he rode the stars and broke the mountain," the Noble whispered and locked gazes with the girl as he rubbed the substance into the wounds. "And know that I will return one day to help you finish what he started." The Noble finished applying the substance and took out a folded leaf from his shell. He shook it open and cut it in half neatly with a claw before laying one half over the girl's hand and the other on his own.

The girl pressed down on the leaf and stared at it, rocking to and fro on her heels. She had no idea what the marking meant and she studied it intently as it seemed to be something very important. "Such a little darling! Her curiosity outweighs her pain!" the Noble remarked.

"She is very brave for her age…she has much of her father in her," the woman smiled.

"And her mother too. She'll grow up to be a remarkable woman, for sure."

* * *

"I knew your father in his lifetime. We were very close friends, and he inspired me to follow the path I tread now. Though you might not believe it, there are those of us Thunthen who also wept for the Far Star Traveler. Over fourteen cycles ago, I pledged that I would reunite with his children and continue his legacy. That promise, along with recent events, has drawn me here."

"I cannot _believe_ this." Azuro said tightly. "I cannot allow myself or anyone else to suffer an alliance with this Thunthen! Every word you speak could very well be a lie, and for all we know, you could have killed my father yourself and feigned innocence!"

"Mal Daggur's the one who killed your father."

"What?!" Azuro glanced at Ryo when he heard him speak. Ryo stared back at him calmly.

"Mal Daggur killed your father. He told me so himself. Maybe you should assign blame where it's deserved. Mal Daggur defeated all ten of us Ronin Warriors, and he was just one Noble. Didn't it cross your mind that instead of just sitting there and letting you burn him at the stake, that this guy could just as easily have killed every single one of us standing in this room?"

"He merely bides his time! He spews his lies to confuse us and lull us into complacency!"

"This isn't your call to make, Azuro, so maybe you should just can it and let King Torke and the Council of Houses make the final verdict," Dais argued.

"'Warrior folk with righteous might.'" Everyone glanced at Cye as he began speaking with his eyes closed. "'Dragonmen shall join the fight. Last, not least, he comes at night; a silver shadow seeking light.'" He opened his eyes after reciting and glared at the Metraind. "While I'd hesitate to call any one of _you_ 'righteous'," Nalore and Phaeryn scowled at the remark. "It's pretty obvious the Thangiens are the First Allies, and the Thunthen are clearly the Second. Like it or not, you are supposed to unite against a common enemy."

"NO! I will _not_ accept any of this as truth!" Geiro bellowed.

"You will accept it as truth, because it is truth." Upon hearing the voice, the gaze of everyone present in the room snapped to the main entrance, all eyes wide in shock. "And you will accept it as truth, because _I_ say it is truth," Everlasting Mother Chi Chi Lina, Yainae stated firmly as she entered the room, walking straight and tall and carrying herself with a regal air.

"Oh my God!" "Is that Danae's _mom_?!" "What's she doing all the way out here?"

Sage noticed how Aurora followed close behind the Everlasting Mother and stepped away, walking over to Cye. She said something to him, and Cye nodded gratefully. Aurora glanced at the kneeling Thunthen and smiled faintly. Not even he knew that she had watched from behind the banister all those years ago as the large reptilian being spoke so kindly with her mother.

Phaeryn and Nalore cried out in surprise as the Noble lashed his arms to the sides and broke free of his bonds, easily snapping the cord Sage couldn't cut earlier. He rose to his feet and walked forward swiftly, too fast for any of the Metraind to respond. Rowen gasped and changed into Eagle sub-armor. He raised his clawnchers and aimed as the Noble approached Yainae rapidly, fearing the Thunthen had plotted to assassinate such a prominent Thangien woman all along. The gems began glowing, ready to fire a pulse into the back of the Thunthen's skull. Rowen promptly diverted his aim and held his fire when he saw what happened.

Bak Thraplek sank to one knee and reached out with one hand, gently slipping his claws under Yainae's age-withered palm. He raised his other hand and placed it over her bony knuckles. "My Lady! The years have not been kind to you!" he exclaimed, concerned.

"I have never been one to expect kindness; least of all from Time itself," Yainae replied and bowed her head. "For so long I worried…that perhaps you had been killed, or that you had forsaken your promise." Bak stood up, still holding her hand between his.

"No. Never. I couldn't dishonor Ander's memory, or his friendship. Vask mauk thrak tu rauk hin," Bak purred in his rich accent words that sounded strong yet friendly.

"Thelektukak tun valum daufan," Yainae whispered in reply and her eyes sparkled.

"I cannot believe it…your own mother, a traitor?" Geiro spoke up suddenly. Azuro said nothing but stared in disbelief at the sight of the Noble so close to his mother. "See how she speaks so tenderly to him? Why else would she tolerate his touch? Clearly, she conspired with him to have Ander slain to raise her own esteem! Not even Mal Daggur himself could have defeated Vai Stel Vethu fairly in open combat. He-"

Cye smirked, anticipating what would happen next as he saw Yainae's shoulders rise with the drawing of breath. She turned her head to the side to look at Geiro and opened her eyes slowly.

"_**STIAD TUV THAAB**_!" Not one of the Metraind uttered a word in response. Despite her advanced age, Yainae still possessed the lungs to talk down any opposition. Aurora smirked and Danae stifled a giggle. Bak turned around and looked at Danae.

"I have something for you, young Stormwalker." Danae blinked and looked at him. Everyone watched as the Thunthen reached under his shell and began pulling. He grimaced from discomfort and his body contorted slightly as he struggled to wriggle something free.

The Ronin's eyes widened in shock upon seeing the Noble extricate a long sheathed sword from under his shell. Bak held it before him reverently with both hands. The cross-guard resembled a grand winged bird with wings folded in a dive, and the pommel a rounded crown. "Gold Wing: The sword of Ander. I've kept it with me all this time, waiting for the day when one of his children would come of age and take the role of Protector. I give this to you."

Ryo glanced at Azuro out the corner of his eye and frowned when he saw the Thangien shuddering, seething with rage at the sight of the Noble even _touching_ the sword. Ryo could tell from the look in Azuro's eyes that he thought the sword should belong to _him_.

Danae stepped forward slowly and raised her hands, into which Bak placed the scabbard. She gingerly wrapped her fingers around the hilt and drew the blade out slightly. She sheathed it quickly and shook her head. "I cannot accept this. I am not worthy of such a blade."

"Nonsense. You're just as worthy of wielding it now as you were as a child; only this time you can make proper use of it," Bak chuckled. Aurora and Cye also laughed at the remark, and some of the other Ronin smiled. "The blade itself has no special powers. There's no 'magic', no special ability. Power lies in the one who wields it, as it did Ander in his time. It doesn't matter what deeds it is remembered for in his hands then, but what deeds are done in yours."

"Enough! I will no longer tolerate you speaking of my father in such a way to insult him!" Azuro shouted and stepped forward. Danae backed away from Bak, carrying the sword. "How _dare_ you speak about him as if you knew him better than any of us! I-"

"Oh will you just put a bloody sock in it," Cye sneered from where he stood beside Aurora. Azuro blinked once, surprised by the sudden bold remark, and turned his furious gaze to Cye.

"How _dare_ you-!" he began, his face twisting into a sneer.

"HOW DARE I WHAT?!" Cye screamed shrilly and strode over to him swiftly. "HUH? HOW DARE I WHAT?! HAVE A FUCKING OPINION!?" he shouted to Azuro's face.

Upstairs, Sehkmet raised an eyebrow when he thought he heard a shout. He sat up in bed and cocked his ear to listen. Next door, Cale stirred in bed and raised the cast covering his left hand and pulled himself from under the covers. Tanya pushed herself onto her elbows and blinked in surprise when she heard raised voices. She reached over clumsily and wrapped her hand around the cane that belonged to Mia's Grandfather. Someone had left it there earlier. She tugged her legs loose from the sheets and set her feet down then pushed herself to stand. All three of them exited their rooms simultaneously and peered over the rail.

They were initially surprised to see the seven-foot tall spike-shelled creature standing in the dining room, and surprised to see almost half of the House of St'lur as well, but nothing compared to the sight of Cye standing face to face with Azuro and confronting him angrily.

"Heaven _fucking_ forbid that _anyone_ says _anything_ wrong about the _Thangiens_, who can do no wrong! I mean, it's not like one of your own members didn't go absolutely bat-shit-crazy and go on a killing spree, right? It's not like one of your political rivals didn't try to assassinate Dais when he dated your sister. You're pretty fond of spewing quotes when it suits you, well here's one you should learn: PRACTICE WHAT YOU FUCKING PREACH!"

Ryo, Kento, Rowen, Sage, and Dais watched wide-eyed in shock and listened with even greater surprise, but this time no one challenged Cye's opinion. Never before had anyone seen the typically calm Ronin Warrior so flushed, so livid. Bak and Yainae listened quietly, and Aurora looked impressed by his words. Danae smiled proudly, pleased upon seeing such passion in someone who had once tried to denounce the battlefield entirely.

"You know what really gets my blood boiling? How you keep saying 'forgiveness can only be earned'! This Noble put his life in our hands! He came to us asking for forgiveness: _pleading_ for forgiveness! But you're not going it to him, no; you won't even give him the time of day! For God's sake, your own _mother_ accepts him as a friend! Shouldn't that tell you something, or are you that dense that you won't follow your own goddamn advice?!

"Do you think any one of us," Cye pointed to each of the Ronin on the first floor, not noticing Sehkmet, Cale, and Tanya watching from upstairs. "Would be standing next to one another here today? Do you think Dais would've married your sister and become your pair-brother? Do you think we'd be where we are now today if we had the same draconic, BULLSHIT, BACKWARDS, UTTERLY BRAIN-DEAD mentality as you?!

"This Noble doesn't need to earn forgiveness from us. He earned it when he made the choice to help us of his own free will. He earned it long before that, when he stood by your father's side and helped him stand against a bloodthirsty tyrant. The only one insulting your father's memory is _you_ by clinging to a grudge that shouldn't even exist." Cye took several deep breaths and backed away a step, calming down. "The least you can do is to try and accept his aid."

Nalore and Phaeryn hung back, uncertain. Geiro grit his teeth, wanting to speak. Azuro stared at Cye coldly. He blinked once, then twice, and then drew air in through his nostrils.

_"No."_ He walked past Cye and headed towards Bak on the other side of the room. Mia gasped when she saw him draw his sword, Cloudrazor, out of its' scabbard. Sage drew in a sharp breath and moved to stop him, but paused when he saw Bak gently push Yainae to the side and move away from her. Danae backed up out of her brother's path, putting herself between him and the other Metraind. "I have suffered this beast long enough. I will tolerate it drawing breath no longer. I-" Azuro raised his blade to the side and prepared to slash.

Bak lunged forward so quickly, what happened next seemed to last minutes rather than moments. He placed his left hand over Azuro's chest, pushed him up off the ground, then turned to the side and hurled him against the top of the table, almost hard enough to break it in half. The other Metraind tried to lunge, but Danae spread her arms and held them at bay. Rowen raised his arm, but Ryo reached out and pushed his wrist back down, shaking his head solemnly. Mia clamped her hands over her mouth, but Yainae gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. Dais tensed to aid his pair-brother, but Aurora grabbed him by the arm and motioned for him to wait.

Bak Thraplek leaned forward and brought his muzzle within an inch of Azuro's face. A rumbling guttural growl escaped his throat and he snorted air against Azuro's bangs. His lips peeled back, briefly exposing his teeth. "You may be Ander's son, but you are _not_ Ander," he growled firmly. For all his amiable nature, they had forgotten he was still a Thunthen Noble.

"Cye," Cye blinked when he heard his name being whispered and felt someone grab his shoulder. He looked over his shoulder and saw Tanya leaning over the stair rail. "I honestly couldn't have said that any better myself," she beamed. Cye smiled appreciatively and the two glanced back at Bak where he still had Azuro pinned to the table. The Noble released his grip and stepped away then walked back over to stand next to Yainae. Azuro looked considerably shaken, and the other Metraind rushed to his side to help him back to his feet.

"He's inherited much of Ander's ferocity, but precious little of his restraint," Bak commented.

"He misses his father. He was oldest at the time of his passing, and so he remembers him the best," Yainae reasoned. Bak nodded understandingly then coiled his tail about his ankle.

"Raeo Flamerider?" Ryo snapped to attention when he heard Bak address him. "Your stance on the events of tonight speaks volumes about your virtuous nature. Torkenantakin was right to place his trust in your guidance. While I place little stock in predestination, I do believe the legacies of the past influence the deeds of the present. Just as Yainae and her children draw lineage from Queen Danaetanera III, so too can I trace ancestry from Das Anazhar.

"Three thousand years ago we made war against the people of Planet Thanged, as well as peace. Both peoples prospered in the interim, but Mal Daggur's vile scheming would bring only ruin to everyone for the sake of spite. I won't allow that to happen. To that end, I pledge my aid and that of my crew to support your cause. As the Queen Danaetanera bled to save her people long ago, so too will we bleed to save ours," Bak declared and placed one arm behind his shell.

"'Crew'? Wait, you mean there's more of you?" Ryo raised an eyebrow. Bak looked almost taken aback by his surprise and smiled warmly.

"Of course! Revolution can scarcely be enacted by the efforts of one lone individual. Ander spoke much of the history of this Oldworld. I'm certain your own history is replete with such examples. Come, I will introduce you to them," Bak beckoned and walked towards the door. Yainae walked after him, and gradually the others followed except for the disgraced Metraind. Aurora threw a glance over her shoulder, satisfied that her brother had been taken down a peg.

"You could've just ported him outside, you know…" Mia grumbled from the back as Bak had to press his stomach against the door frame and maneuver his shell past. Some of the spikes dug into the wood and scraped chips off, and Bak looked over his shoulder and grimaced apologetically. He stepped out into the driveway and looked into the forest surrounding the estate. Many hours of night yet remained, and the light from the windows only went so far.

"It's allright now. You can come out. They've accepted us," Bak said softly.

They heard many rustlings, and saw shadows approaching. The Ronin's eyes widened in utter surprise and wonder as one by one other Nobles stepped into range of light.

"Ryo…there's at least a dozen of these guys…" Kento gurgled through his teeth.

"I know…" Ryo replied hoarsely.

"And they've been out here all this time…"

"I _know_!" Ryo hissed.

Thunthen of all ages and sizes stood side by side with the smallest standing as tall as Rowen and the largest high enough to scrape the ceiling of the first floor of the estate with his horns. Bak held his hand out towards them. "Tar Uhnin, Naz Dassyr, Koi Udsarrin, Ita Tarmvun, Rgn Chorrez, Bau Daophyn, Sul Phathrax, Dhr Aurir, Vud Wyherer, Tuv Anarach, and Miz Paufan. These are my compatriots, and close friends hand-picked from among the most skilled hands and brilliant minds alive among the Thunthen." Bak turned to face Ryo.

"I am Bak Thraplek, and I say this to you: Untun untom aturasak Raax. It means, 'I take thee as my leader'," Bak stated and spread his arms to either side, palms facing up and claws splayed. He held his tail behind himself for balance and leaned forward in a steep bow, displaying his rack of spikes and almost touching the ground with his beard. Behind him, the members of his crew stood straight and splayed their claws infront of their throats in a sort of salute. Bak glanced up when he saw Ryo's hand close to his head and tilted his face up slightly.

"We call ourselves Ronin Warriors because we serve no master. I wouldn't treat a friend any differently," Ryo stated proudly. Bak glanced from the outstretched hand to Ryo's face. He rose to his full height-not nearly as tall as Mal Daggur, but intimidating all the same. Bak stared down at Ryo's bare palm and his lips slowly peeled back in a smile.

"You remind me very much of Ander," Bak remarked and closed his right hand around Ryo's right wrist, shaking it strongly. The other Ronin outside in the driveway and those that watched from the balcony above cheered happily. The members of Bak's crew observed the scene and nodded approvingly. Old Yainae looked heart-warmed and relieved, and Danae and her older sister smiled proudly. Truly, this was a Noble who deserved to be called such.


	24. The Changing Battlefield

The Changing Battlefield

By Mardrena

"Does this look familiar to you?" Rowen pushed the printed image over the table.  
"Hmm…It kinda looks like the decoration on Ander's sword…" Ryo muttered.

"It's the badge for the RAF." Ryo looked up at Rowen and raised an eyebrow at that. "British Royal Airforce," Rowen stated with a grin.

"You serious? Wow…well, that makes sense. It backs up what King Torke said about him."

"I wish Aurora hadn't taken her mom back to Thanged so fast. I shoulda talked to her when I had the chance. There's so much I coulda asked her…"

"About what?" Ryo looked up at him and frowned.

"Well think about it; everyone knows Ander from when he was a Thangien, but does anyone except maybe Yainae remember him when he was an Oldworlder? It's a story that deserves to be told. Who knows? There might be relatives of his still alive if we just knew his real name…"

"I dunno Rowen, I don't think that's our story to tell," Ryo replied. He could respect Rowen's enthusiasm, but he also had to take into consideration the fact that if Ander _did_ have family on Earth; they might not like hearing that the relative they thought dead so many decades ago had gone and had himself an entirely different family on an entirely different planet...

* * *

"Why the heck does the university keep all these moldy old records? If they keep everything on computer these days, why not just get rid of them?" Kento grumbled as he carried a stack of heavy cardboard boxes towards a small seldom-used closet on the first floor.

"Oh don't be silly. That'd be like wanting to dispose of ancient texts just because they're written on paper. There's always the threat of corrupt files and viruses, just as there's the threat of fire and mold for paper. Never hurts to have a backup," Mia chided as she directed Kento and Cye in their efforts. Cye stood inside the tiny closet and accepted the heavy boxes from Kento.

"Anyone hear that weird creak?" Cye commented and looked over his shoulder at the floor before he crouched down and set the stack against the wall.

"This old closet wasn't used for much besides some of Grandfather's things, so they'll be out of the way at least," Mia added as Kento hefted another stack and handed it over to Cye.

"I swear that's getting louder…" Cye muttered and glanced at the floor again.

"Yikes how many decades does this stuff cover?" Kento grumbled as he handed yet another stack to Cye and turned around to face Mia. Cye looked worried and the floor groaned.

Mia and Kento didn't notice the loud splintering crunch or Cye's startled yelp, and Kento kept his eyes on Mia while he handed the boxes over to where Cye should have been standing and released them, expecting him to grab them. A faint grunt echoed up from the newly-formed hole in the floor. Kento finished retrieving another stack of boxes and this time turned to face the closet, but paused upon seeing the lack of a floor.

"…whoa…where'd this come from? Cye? Cye? Where are you? You okay?"

"No. As a matter of fact. I am _not_ okay. Considering that I landed quite painfully. On a pile of old file boxes. And had another three dumped. Rather carelessly on my stomach!" Cye croaked from the depths. Kento winced apologetically. "Does Mia know she has a cave down here?" Mia walked over and peered over Kento's shoulder.

"Oh goodness, what happened?"

"Sinkhole I guess…" Kento reached down and felt along the broken edge of the exposed ground. "Feels moist…it probably weakened over time…hey…" Kento leaned forward into the pit and sniffed. "…you smell that?" Mia followed his example and frowned.

"…There's…there's _air_ circulating down there! Let me get flashlights!"

While Mia left to fetch proper equipment, Kento lowered himself into the hole and much to his surprise landed on a relatively smooth floor no more than seven or so feet down. He spotted Cye trying to push heavy boxes off his body and knelt down to assist. Mia returned with flashlights and glow sticks and tossed them down, which Kento caught neatly. Cye dusted himself off and grumbled thanks before accepting a flashlight and glow stick.

"Actually, this looks more like a cavern," Cye remarked as he swung the beam of the flashlight from the floor to the walls of what looked like a rough tunnel. The floor looked smooth but knotted, with whorls and bumps all over, and the walls pleated and flowing.

"There shouldn't be one. This land's supposed to be geologically stable," Mia commented from above. The two Ronin walked down the tunnel a few steps and stopped when they saw the floor drop into a deep pit. Kento shook a glow stick to activate it and tossed it into the black. The two watched as the stick tumbled down and down, with the glow cast on the rough walls turning faint and the stick itself becoming a tiny pinprick. They heard the faintest of clatters and saw the light bounce as the stick struck solid rock. Kento and Cye exchanged surprised glances.

* * *

The fabric of Rowen's Eagle sub-armor wings fluttered softly as he descended. He heard a louder ripple and glanced up to see Ryo above him, using the wings of his Dragon sub-armor to glide. The shaft was wide enough that his wingtips barely touched the walls. The light of the glow stick grew in size as they reached the floor after a couple minutes. Ryo stooped down and retrieved the stick, raising it to the air. The glow only reached so far, but they could discern a sizable rock wall extending outward from the shaft. Ryo examined the floor and noticed it looked similar to the smooth-yet-lumpy floor of the upper 'hall'.

"I think Bak needs to see this…" Rowen whispered in awe as he swung the flashlight beam about. The beam extended into a vast darkness and did not strike anything at the end.

* * *

Mia stepped gingerly on the way to the section of the forest the Thunthen had settled. She slowed her pace when she spotted the smooth white rims and green enamel, not wanting to disturb the sleeping Nobles. They apparently slept with their bodies curled under their spiked shells. "Um…hi, I'm sorry to wake you-" Maws filled with sharp teeth opened wide and angry hisses emanated from each one. "AHH! I'm looking for Bak! I'm looking for Bak!" Mia squawked. The Thunthen closed their mouths and grumbled irritably before returning to sleep.

"I'm here…" One of the large shells moved and Mia saw the blue-bearded Noble rise.

"We discovered something rather unusual in the ground under my property. Ryo thinks you should take a look at it. It could be-" Mia began and waved her hands as she explained.

"Please. We Thunthen are very conscious of our appearance," Bak said and coiled his tail close to his waist, keeping his back to Mia. Mia nodded and stepped back and turned around. She glanced over her shoulder out the corner of her eye, finding it hard to imagine the towering draconian Thunthen being prudish. She observed with great curiosity how Bak dressed.

Instead of using woven cloth like the Thangiens, the Thunthen seemed to use thick pads made of either treated leather or plastic-like material. Bak fastened his armor to his torso by slipping stretchable bands around his shoulders and thighs, so that it fit snugly despite his shell. Mia turned back around and waited until she heard footsteps as the Noble walked towards her.

"Sorry for the rough welcome. We stayed up rather late situating ourselves…" Mia watched intrigued as his lips moved over the rows of teeth. A Thunthen's skin looked very similar to that of a lizard, with tiny smooth, orange scales without any form of larger scale plates or dewlaps.

"I'm-sorry…I just…here, if you wouldn't mind…" Bak blinked in surprise but stood still and waited as Mia reached up towards his face. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth as Mia gently stroked her fingers through the bluish fibers hanging from the edge of his jaw. "It feels…silky…smooth…not at all slimy or rough," Mia remarked and lowered her arms.

"They are formed from extrusions of scale, I imagine not very much at all different from yours," Bak smiled and drug a claw tip through his beard.

"Um, do your crewmembers need anything? Food, drink? They've worked so hard…"

"They'll be fine. They had deer this morning," Bak commented and waved a hand dismissively as he stepped past Mia.

"…deer?" Mia squeaked faintly and blinked.

During the short walk back to the estate, Bak showed himself to be nothing like the conquest-crazed brute King Torke had described. He spoke of how after losing the prize of Thanged ages ago, the Thunthen had taken the Viking approach and set out on a campaign of exploration, eventually visiting more systems than Thuruk had planets. This gave them a much broader understanding of space, as well as access to more advanced technology.

Mia remained so engrossed in their chat that she didn't immediately notice the metallic white form angling down for a landing. She emerged from the forest ahead of Bak and looked up when she saw the winged shadow. "Hey Mia!" Yulie greeted and dismounted from White Wind. "I got permission from Mom and Pop, but I wanted to ask Ryo; I wanna see if it's okay for me to fly to Thanged on my own. I wanna check up on how Ph'li and Ko'li are doing."

"Oh…I'm not sure now's a good time Yulie. A lot's been going on lately, and it might not be safe. I understand your concern but-" Mia spoke while Bak walked up behind her.

"WHOA! MIA! LOOK OUT!" Yulie recoiled and White Wind spread his wings at full stretch and leveled both missile launchers at the Noble.

"WHITE WIND! STOP IT!" Mia yelled at the top of her lungs and Bak raised both eyebrows in surprise upon seeing the woman place herself between him and a fully-armed Pegasi.

"Mia! T-T-That's a Thunthen!" Yulie stammered.

"I _know_ what he is! His name's Bak. He's a friend!" Mia stated firmly.

White Wind erupted with a series of sharp snorts and tossed his head. "He says-"

"He says there's no such thing as a friendly Thunthen," Bak interrupted Yulie and stepped out from behind Mia. "He also says a Thunthen killed his father's rider." White Wind blinked in confusion and lowered his wings. "Judging from your stature, I'd wager you're foaled from Skybolt Sunhammer, and that his rider was Ander. I also wager your father never told you that some of Ander's closest friends _were_ Thunthen, hmm?" Bak clasped both hands behind his shell and leaned forward slightly before looking up. "Ah. I see Sage is ready. Come, Mia. We should not keep the others waiting." With that, the Noble walked towards the front door.

Mia glanced once at Yulie, at a loss for words, and shrugged innocently. Yulie remained wide-eyed, and White Wind let out a strangled grating chirp.

* * *

_"Ryo? Mia's here with Bak. You guys got a reference point down there?"_

"Yah. Just a second…Rowen, light?" Ryo requested. Rowen shone the light of the flashlight onto a large boulder that looked like it had dislodged at some point from the wall and landed on the floor near the wall's edge. Ryo toggled visual link and kept the screen trained on the boulder.

Teleport rings formed nearby and deposited a fully-armored Sage accompanied by Bak Thraplek and Mia. Mia, who had yet to see the discovery herself, turned around and stared up at the steep wall. Bak's eyebrows arched and he looked very excited. Sage raised his sword and swept his hand over the blade several times, sending a volley of brilliant green spheres that exploded with light. The full extent of the interior left the Ronin and their Thunthen guest utterly speechless. The cavern looked big enough to rival the inside of Thananagreia itself.

"That…is pretty…dang huge…" Ryo muttered.

Bak kept his tail coiled around his ankle to keep from lashing it about in excitement. He walked over to the wall and placed his hand against it, patting it slightly. "This is young rock…"

"'Young' being a couple tens of thousands of years?" Rowen quipped.

"This…this was once the magma chamber for an ancient volcano, long since extinct…"

"Well that makes sense. There's several live ones spitting distance of here," Sage muttered.

"The floor we stand upon now was formed from cooled magma…and look…up there." Bak pointed at the ceiling. "Magmites; formed by the last curdled drops of magma hanging from the roof of the chamber. The shaft you stumbled upon was no doubt an old vent, exposed after decades of gradual erosion caused by air circulating inside from some other external source…"

"I think we found it," Kento announced as he and Cye jogged over from where they had ventured out earlier to explore the edge of the lower wall.

"There's a tunnel way over there," Cye pointed to a faint light source exposed by Sage's lamps. "Looks man-made. It's been blockaded pretty heavily, lots of warning signs and all."

"You know what…I think I remember hearing about this…" Mia spoke up suddenly and stepped forward. "Grandfather said they tried to construct a highway tunnel through the slope years ago, but they never finished. They must've stumbled across this chamber and decided it was too dangerous and scrapped the project. Well Bak, what do you think?"

"Yes…yes…I think it will serve most admirably…" Ryo smiled cheerfully. "As a base of operations for you all." Ryo's eyebrows went up in surprise.

"Wait-what? Oh, no wait you misunderstood us. We were thinking you and your crew could use it to live in, so you wouldn't have to sleep outside," Ryo sputtered and waved his hands.

"Yeah. It gets pretty chilly outdoors this time of year," Rowen added.

"Well, in all fairness, that _is_ how we sleep. Beds weren't designed with us in mind," Bak shrugged and tapped the rim of his shell by his shoulder. "No, such space would suit you better."

"But…we live topside," Kento said and pointed at the ceiling.

"Oh, I admit the residence is rather idyllic, but-no offense -hardly practical. The very nature of your battles is changing. You're no longer fighting merely spooks and bogeymen, but real threats to your very existence." The Ronin exchanged glances and raised eyebrows at that remark. "You've introduced yourselves onto a much greater stage than you've previously known. You need a refuge…a stronghold to plan, train, rest and recover; Resources and facilities beyond the capacity of your current host. Look…you can see the outline of smaller chambers…there would be ideal for an infirmary…and living quarters…a communications center…"

The Ronin observed as Bak reached into his shell and pulled out what looked like a thin tablet with a wide screen. He tapped a claw on the surface, tracing outlines on the screen and glancing at the ceiling periodically. Kento shielded his mouth with one hand and traded with Cye remarks about how much the Noble could fit in his shell. "Pockets are ill suited to us, as you can imagine," Bak spoke aloud suddenly and clapped his claws together. Any and all such conversation ceased after that. After a minute or two, Bak placed the tablet back inside his shell.

"I'll muster my crew. Give us a day, and we'll fashion you a dwelling grand enough to rival the palaces of Das Anazhar!" Before anyone could say anything, Bak bounded over to the shaft and sprang onto the walls. They watched speechless as Bak scaled the shaft with an agility that belied his bulk, vanishing out of sight as he reached the upper hall and the estate above.

"…We…could've just…ported you outside…you know…" Sage called out and winced, blinking several times. Mia giggled and Rowen scratched his head and wrinkled his nose.

* * *

Ryo walked towards the innocuous-looking closet. He and the others had returned topside while the Thunthen crewmembers set to work. Ryo paused when he spotted a set of familiar-looking scrapes in the door frame. He let out a soft chuckle and shook his head then opened the door. He blinked upon seeing the simple metal pole in the middle of the tiny space. Ryo shrugged and grasped the pole then hooked his ankles around it and slid into the hall below.

Newly-installed lamps added soft bluish light to the hall, and the Thunthen had managed to smooth out most of the lumps and bumps from the floor. Ryo spotted a few of them gathered at the end of the hall, at the top of the deep shaft. Bak stood close by as he directed construction.

"So, how's the work coming along?" Ryo casually asked as he approached. Bak turned to face him but did not speak immediately, as he apparently chewed on something. Ryo noticed he held what looked like a platter in one hand. Bak swallowed and licked his chops.

"Quite smoothly so far! As you can see here, we've elected to install a system of smaller cable lifts. The shaft is far too wide and irregular to support a conventional elevator." Bak turned to the side and gestured to the partially-completed mechanisms using the plate he held.

"What's that you got there?" Ryo raised an eyebrow, trying to get a better look at the dish.

"I believe it's referred to as 'soo-shee'. Your consort was most gracious to offer it to me. I find it quite fascinating: fish and vegetable matter arranged in a most intriguing pattern," Bak tweaked a roll with the tips of his index and middle claws and held it up to his eye as if examining a precious gem. "Each one almost a work of art unto itself," Bak praised and dipped the roll into a small cup of sauce before popping it into his mouth. He spent a few seconds chewing, savoring the taste before swallowing. "We Thunthen have long believed that you can always tell how advanced a civilization is by how they prepare their food.

"The Fendahu ritualistically purify the meat of their kills using the digestive enzymes of predatory plants. The Kikua of Aguar flavor their catches with the secretions of deep-sea worms. Even the Stalkers of Khilio exhibit rudimentary intelligence. They skin their prey alive and roll them about in the mineral-rich topsoil, then leave the bodies to bake in Thuruk 2's heat, returning at nightfall to feed." Ryo listened with intrigue at the remarks.

"So…why all the hostility towards Thangiens?" Bak didn't reply right away and chewed for a few seconds more before flicking his free hand to one side and chewing.

"Soup," he chirped and swallowed. "That's all they eat! They eat so much; they might as well piss it!" Ryo couldn't help but let out a snorting chuckle at that comment. "Of course, they _claim_ it's easier for them to metabolize, but if you ask me, it all gets rather boring…"

"Okay…well, what if you come across a race that's so advanced they don't have to eat?" Ryo asked with a grin, curious to the response. He'd seen his fair share of sci-fi as a child. Bak dipped another roll into the sauce and popped it into his mouth, but his eyebrows furrowed in disgust.

"Oh now any race that pulls _that_ deserves to be eradicated," he snorted, earning a burst of nasal laughter from Ryo. "Too often in our travels have we come across the remnants of great, ancient civilizations that had pushed themselves to the peak of advancement only to fall into obscurity, or worse. The Peh'qu'tour once roamed the galaxy but have not been seen for many ages. The Traghdoash once occupied Thuruk's neighboring system, and in their hubris, destroyed themselves." Bak's brow furrowed in reflection and Ryo listened quietly.

"Many species forget that once you reach the top, where else is there to go but down? Life is a journey, and much like food," Bak held up another sushi roll. "Is meant to be savored. How can you be expected to hold onto all that 'vast knowledge' if you forget simple pleasures such as this?" With that, he dabbed the roll into the sauce cup and popped it into his maw.

Ryo dwelt on the commentary for a few moments while Bak continued snacking and his crewmembers continued with their work on the shaft. Then Ryo furrowed his brows and glanced up at Bak. "Hey Bak…When you said 'consort' earlier…who were you talking about?"

"The civilian woman: Mia," Bak said between chews. Ryo's eyes popped wide open and he threw up both hands in protest, feeling his cheeks become hot.

"Whoa! We're married, but I wouldn't call her my-!"

"You know," Bak leaned close enough to Ryo that their noses almost touched. "One thing I find most curious about warm-blooded sapient races such as Humans and Thangiens is the sudden influx of color when expressing emotion." Bak lightly jabbed a claw close to Ryo's face then leaned back to his full height. "Now for us Thunthen it is quite different, emotion is marked by a sharp _lack_ of color," he explained and waved his free hand alongside his chest.

Ryo stood there with his mouth hanging open and his face wrinkled in a dismayed grimace. He wasn't sure he understood a lick of what Bak just said, but it didn't make him blush any less.

* * *

Cye walked alongside the wall, impressed by the sight and sound of energetic construction. He spotted Sage sitting atop the 'Wall Boulder', as the formation had been dubbed. "So this is new, hmm? We get to have our own 'secret lair' now, and you made it all happen." Cye teased with a grin. Sage smiled back at him and returned his gaze to the designated infirmary site.

"I couldn't have done it without help…" he whispered then scowled abruptly when he spotted someone leaning against the far right wall. "What the hell is Azuro still doing here?" The Thangien observed the Thunthen with thinly-veiled disgust. "I thought he was supposed to go back to Thanged with all the others," Sage hissed under his breath.

"He insists he's 'supervising' things, for our own 'safety'. Despite everything that happened, he only trusts the Thunthen as far as he can throw them," Cye grumbled.

"Considering he's a Metraind, I imagine that's pretty far. He's probably waiting for an excuse to pick a fight, if you ask me…You know…I didn't get a chance to thank you yesterday."

"Thank me for what?"

"You know what…"

"Umm…nooo…I'm afraid I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about," Cye replied and grinned innocently before turning around and walking towards the old tunnel. Sage rest his chin over woven fingers and smiled gratefully.

_"I know this Noble. I have seen him before…"_

_"You serious? When?"_

_"Many cycles ago…He visited my mother and gave her the news of my father's fate. His intentions are as sincere as SageTakin says. He would make a most precious ally to us all."_

_"No offense, but your brother wouldn't accept an alliance except over his dead body…What…what if you got your mother to vouch for Bak? You said she knows him? How long would it take for you to go to Thanged and bring her here?"_

_"Not long at all. I will move with all due haste."_

_"Do it. If things start looking bad, I'll do what I can to stall for time."_

_I'm not a fan of playing the game of Fate, but I hope it's what you would have wished for…Suzunagi_… Cye remained so deep in his thoughts he didn't see the small Thunthen hunkered down at the mouth of the exit tunnel and ended up tripping over the thin tail draped along the floor. Cye yelped and stumbled forward a few steps before catching his balance. "Whoa! Sorry there! Didn't see you…" Cye turned around and looked at the Noble.

Oddly enough, he didn't look like any of the other Nobles at all. He looked much smaller, almost human-sized, and lacked any form of spikes on the shell and tail tip. In fact, he lacked a tail club altogether. The Thunthen looked over his shoulder and noticed Cye then sprang to his feet and cringed timidly. "Sorry! I shouldn't have let it stick out," he sputtered and brought his tail close to his legs, but didn't wrap it around his ankle. The Thunthen's muzzle looked considerably less blocky than the others, and he had smaller head crests and beard.

The Thunthen's eyebrows rose in excitement and he straightened up a bit. "You…you're Gauraax Cye!" Cye blinked in bewilderment. Apparently the word served to denote someone of great importance; much like Thangien's "Takin". "I heard about how you and Aurorakhan defended the Captain so staunchly! It's an honor to meet you in person!" Cye cautiously extended his hand in greeting and the diminutive Thunthen seized it with both hands and shook it vigorously. "I wasn't hatched until a few cycles ago, so I never got the chance to know Ander, but I imagine if I had, he certainly would've been as passionate as you!"

Cye wasn't sure what to feel about being thought of as the 'passionate' one. He opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly a larger Noble stormed over and cuffed the smaller one viciously.

"MIZ PAUFAN! WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" The red-bearded Noble bellowed. "Finish configuring those servo relays SWIFTLY! You _nehaghc_!" Miz scooped up his tools and scampered down the tunnel with his head tucked close to his shell like a retreating turtle.

"…Well _that_ was uncalled for!" Cye protested angrily. "He was just trying to be friendly!"

"…He's a Common," the larger Noble snorted and shrugged dismissively. His expression softened when he noticed Cye's confusion. "Ahh, you do not know? There are actually three races of our kind. In our language, the word 'thunthen' means 'dagger-claw', so when people think of Thunthen, they think of us Nobeyls, or Nobles as the Thangiens took to calling us. Miz is a Khamen; or Common. What they lack in strength they make up for in dexterity. The Pesaks-or Peasants- are the least of us with no courage to speak of, and are suited only for drudge work."

The Noble took note of Cye's dismayed expression and shook his head in pity. "Understand, Gauraax Cye: This is how things are done on our world. That we acknowledge them as our kindred is the only courtesy we afford them," and with that, the Noble walked down the tunnel. Cye watched him leave and scowled. That was something he needed to change…

* * *

Rowen stared down into his reflection and smiled as he paced about the huge circular tile set into the center of the main cavern. He had no idea where-or how- the Thunthen had gotten hold of so much onyx and gold, but with it they'd created a stylized samurai helm emblem.

"I say! Look out below!" a cheerful-sounding voice bellowed from far away.

"Huh?" Rowen glanced from side to side. He spotted a curious reflection in the polished surface of the tile and glanced upwards. "WAAUAGH!" He barely backpedaled in time to avoid being landed on by a stocky Noble. The Thunthen landed on the tile with surprising grace, and didn't crack it in the slightest bit. He crouched to ease the shock and straightened himself.

"Sorry 'bout that! Normally I descend along the wall, but it's been _cycles_ since I've had the privilege of working on such a daunting project!" the Noble shook his shell giddily. "Thangiens are quick to dub us 'uncultured barbarians', but stone, stone _speaks_ to us! It sings! _This_ is our art! _This_ is our poetry!" the Noble held a hand out to the side and waved his palm at the wall, splaying his claws. He did a double take at Rowen as if he hadn't quite noticed him before, raising both dark-blue eyebrows. "Bau Daophyn! Senior Stone-Shaper!" he introduced himself and offered his hand, which Rowen took and which Bau shook energetically.

"Rowen Hashiba…so…um…what were you doing all the way up there?" Rowen glanced up.

"Magmites," Bau said and set down a sack filled with rock spikes. "The Captain requested they be removed. Wouldn't want one of these landing on some poor fellow…or me, for that matter! Hah hah!" Bau laughed heartily and slapped Rowen on the back so hard, Rowen almost felt his eyeballs pop out. "Thangiens have always been proficient in working metal, but for us it is quite scarce. Any and all mined goes towards the creation of our great ships," Bau explained and walked back over to the wall. "Ander had a saying for it…something concerning a 'short stick'."

"You knew Ander?" Rowen raised an eyebrow and turned around.

"Of course. I'm one of the few old enough to have met him in his prime. Tragic thing, his passing. Good man. Roth bless him," Bau commented before scaling the wall with the same uncanny grace Bak had displayed earlier. Rowen wrinkled his nose and cocked his head.

"That's kinda an odd thing to hear coming from a Thunthen…" he remarked.

"Would it surprise you if I told you we once worshipped their gods?" Rowen turned around to find himself being approached by Tar Uhnin, the elder statesman of Bak's crew; a Noble taller than Bak or Bau, but with half as many years as Yainae. Very little of the original orange remained in his nearly-white beard and head crests. He came up alongside Rowen and regarded him warmly, like a wise old grandfather…that happened to be a dinosaur.

"They visited us long, long ago…Roth showed us perseverance; to overcome all threats, no matter the odds. Witheren taught us _fuhrhiadore_: to 'Fight with full fury'. Eyurodin shared with us the secrets of shaping metal, and helped us reach the stars. Ritho taught us compassion, so that more of our young would mature to become warriors _and_ scientists. We have not seen them for many ages. I think it saddened them; when we made war upon Thanged, and we'll not see them again until we've made peace…I'd very much like to see them before my passing…to see them as they appeared in the old tales," Tar said wistfully and bowed his head.

"Um…okay…You know…I'm kinda surprised that you all would be so quick to rally to our banner. I expected the Native Thangiens to be the first to sign on," Rowen commented.

"Oh they wouldn't! A Native would sooner let a Human-born drown!" Tar stated.

"How come? They're evolved from unicorns, right? I thought they were peaceful people."

"To each other, yes. I take it you're not familiar with the story of Ritho and the Natives? Hmm? No, I suppose you wouldn't. It's something even Thangiens are reluctant to speak of, even amongst themselves…" Tar muttered ruefully then waggled a claw. "Keep in mind that this takes place eons ago; when the very foundations of Bainshaebo were being laid.

"Roth had given to the people a vision of a great walled city where they would dwell and want for nothing. A party of the unicorn-folk straying far over Kundain came upon the construction, and were surprised to see the site. They had never seen Humans before, and at first were confused…then angry. They viewed the strangers as intruders, and sought to get rid of them. They stole into the camps under cover of night and slew a great many engineers.

"This act grieved Eyurodin, for all craftsmen are precious to her. She and Witheren advocated swift and bloody retribution, but Roth stayed their hand, seeking to uncover the reason behind the attacks. The unicorn-folk believed that the planet belonged to them and them alone, and that all others were trespassers. They wanted the Humans to leave immediately, but they could scarcely return to their own world than the world itself could stop turning.

"Gentle Ritho came forth and argued that surely the planet was vast enough that both races could coexist. The Natives refused, claiming the planet was sacred and that Humans' very presence defiled it. Then…they did the unthinkable; they attacked Ritho. Naturally she could not be harmed by their efforts, but that they had _dared_ try _enraged_ her, and what happened next goes down in history as the most terrifying display of power ever before witnessed.

"She laid waste to their civilization; so thoroughly that never again would they rise as a great power. Forever after would the unicorn-folk harbor a deep, seething hatred of all Human-born. Not even the pairing of Aurorakhan and T'plaureth could convince them to reconcile. Indeed, they beat him within an inch of his life for the mere act of having spoken to her.

"Now you might think to yourself such an act being highly uncharacteristic of a goddess who is supposed to personify compassion, but I'll say this to you," Tar moved a step closer to Rowen and peered down at him. "There're few things in this known universe more _terrifying_ than the _wrath_ of a mother who feels her children threatened…"

"Wow…you…you talk about them as if they're actually real…" Rowen commented, considering much of Thanged's folklore to be allegorical. Tar raised an eyebrow and glanced in Bau's direction as the spry Noble descended on his second trip. Bau shot him a glance and let out a snorting chuckle before depositing his burden and ascending again. Tar looked at Rowen.

"Let me ask you something; if you presented yourself to a people less advanced than you, in all your 'armored glory', could you say for certain they wouldn't perceive you as a force of divinity?" Rowen opened his mouth to speak but caught himself and averted his gaze, remembering all too well prior experiences. "It's a universal trait of us younger races to ascribe forces beyond our comprehension as being the efforts of higher powers. If I'm not mistaken, the word 'volcano' is itself derived from such a god, is it not?" Tar asked and pointed to the ceiling.

Before Rowen could contribute his own theories, an angry voice interjected from the side. "I have heard enough!" Rowen glanced to the side and saw Azuro approach swiftly. "It is one thing for you to speak of my father, but to blaspheme against the Queens is _inexcusable_!" The much taller Tar didn't seem upset by the outburst. "I will not stand here and listen to you-!"

"THEN GET OUT OF THE ROOM!" Rowen shouted at the top of his lungs, glaring at Azuro. The Thangien stared at him with a mixture of disbelief and disappointment before grunting sullenly and storming off towards the entrance tunnel. "Man! Normally I like the guy, but lately I just wanna deck him!" Rowen huffed.

"I wouldn't be so hard on him if I were you," Tar commented, earning a raised eyebrow from Rowen. "He remembers all too well the day his mother gave him the news that his father had been slain by the 'wicked Thunthen'…" Tar wrinkled his muzzle and narrowed one eye. "The irony is that Bak was the one who gave her the news…hmmph," Tar snorted and shrugged.

_Wait a sec…if Yainae knew the truth…why'd she keep it a secret?_ Rowen frowned.

* * *

"Oooh boy…that's going to take getting used to…" Mia muttered as she waited for the strap around her wrist to loosen and let her off the small round platform. The cable lifts carried a passenger down the extent of the long shaft, and a strap attached to the handhold kept the passenger's wrist snugly secured in the event one's gut compelled them to slip off the disc. Mia wondered how she'd managed to hold the tray of cookies steady without tossing her own.

Mia took some time to survey the progress so far. A massive circular tile made of gold and onyx with a samurai helm design occupied the middle of the floor in the main cavern. The vast majority of the large protruding magmites had been removed from the ceiling, and a line of glowing blue lamps ran along the outer wall. She glanced about the far wall at the entrances to the smaller chambers and heard sounds of construction. She began walking towards the chambers but paused when she passed by the Wall Boulder and spotted a slim figure sitting on the crags.

This had to be Ita Tarmvun, the lone female member of Bak's crew. As expected, females-or 'dames', as they were called-differed greatly from the bulkier 'sires'. She sported a more petite build and worked with dainty fingers tipped with thin nails unlike the males' huge daggers. A smooth pear-shaped club tipped the whip-like tail. Her shell also lacked spikes and looked smooth and leathery. The long, thin orange protruding eyebrows furrowed in concentration as Ita focused on the tablet she held in her hands. Her nostrils twitched from time to time, along with the long orange whiskers hanging from the corners of her muzzle.

"Oh! Hello there! I don't believe we've met. I'm Mia Koji, a friend of the Ronin Warriors," Mia extended a hand in greeting. Ita either remained engrossed in her work or flat out ignored her. "Um…I have to admit, you and the other Thunthen have done quite a remarkable job down here. Looks very cozy…" Ita said nothing and kept her gaze trained on her computer tablet. "Ooookayyy…well…I brought some cookies down here, if you'd like-ooh!"

Mia staggered back a step and almost dropped the tray when Ita raised her tail club to within an inch of Mia's face. "Ooh! Sorry! I didn't mean to disturb you or anything," Mia said and scooted to the side. Again the tail club moved to infront of her face. "Okay-I'm kind of confused here, if you want me to leave you can just say so instead of just-" Mia stepped to the opposite side, but again the tail club followed. "Look, I'm only trying to be polite-" Mia reached up with her free hand and tried to nudge the tail club away with the back of her hand.

Ita set down her tablet on the boulder with a clack and hopped down onto the floor. "You are Gauraax Ryo's consort, which is why I do not club in face!" she spoke in a shrill nasal voice sharp enough to grate cheese. "When I do this," the tail club moved infront of Mia's face. "It means silence yourself! I rather _not_ be disturbed with meaningless babble!" Her voice brought up memories of a rather angry European teacher Mia had the misfortune of crossing in her youth. "I greatly appreciate if you shut mouth and go away!" Despite Ita standing a full head taller and the needle-sharp fangs, Mia felt more incensed than anything.

"…WOW…okay! Whoa…you could give Tanya rudeness lessons!" Mia remarked. Ita let out a blasting snort and returned to her seat atop the boulder to resume her work.

* * *

"I'll get it!" Kento sang and dashed to the front door. He alone had elected to remain topside, not only to greet visitors…but also because the cavern lacked a fridge of any sort. He swung the door open and smiled a greeting but quickly frowned when he saw the two people on the stoop. "Um…uh…you…uh…you got a little…um…" Kento grimaced and raised a finger.

Michelle and Anubis exchanged confused glances and raised eyebrows. Then Michelle's gaze strayed to the top of Anubis' head and she pointed with a finger. Anubis raised both eyebrows and reached up and brushed off the large white flecks covering his hair.

"It would seem our complex suffered residual structural damage as a result of Tanya's rampage last month," Anubis sighed in dismay.

"Our ceiling collapsed! Thankfully none of our stuff got damaged, but we've had to terminate our lease because there's no other vacant unit in the building," Michelle explained.

"I'm afraid we must impose on Mia for accommodations for the time being."

Kento said nothing at first then narrowed his eyes. "…I think we can do better than that."

* * *

"Hey Sage! Sage! You know these guys better, right?" Kento called out as he ran over to where he spotted Sage leaning against the entrance to the designated residential hall. "Anubis and Michelle are gonna need a place to stay, so who's in charge of building new-"

"Shhh," Sage hissed and placed a finger to his lips then pointed down the hall. "Listen," he whispered. Kento blinked in confusion but waited patiently. Then he heard it: echoing hums and the rhythmic clang of tools on rock. The busy Nobles uttered words in their native language in a chorus followed by rock cracking and metal ringing. "They sing!" Sage whispered with a grin.

"Yeah…it's pretty cool…" Kento remarked in a hushed tone.

The two looked towards the main cavern when they heard a grinding rumble and spotted the quartet of younger Nobles referred to as 'apprentices' rolling a huge stone disc towards the largest of the lower chambers. Shallow indentions marked either side of the disc and it looked roughly twelve feet across and several inches thick. The disc approached the doorway but stuck in the arch. The Nobles rolled it backwards then rolled it forward again, and again it stuck.

"What the-you cut it too wide!" a gray-green bearded Noble accused.

"No, _I_ followed Bau Daophyn's instructions to the letter. _You_ cut the arch too shallow!" a yellow-bearded Noble retorted and pointed at the other.

"Nevermind whose fault it is," a gray-yellow bearded Noble interjected. "Who's going to tell Bau that we have to waste precious phergon charges correcting _your_ mistakes!"

"I vote Sul. He was in charge of the arch," a pale blue-bearded Noble said.

"Dhr! You nehaghc!" Sul Phathrax hissed.

"Watch it! If this slab breaks then Bau and the Captain will have our shells!" the green-bearded Vud Wyherer squawked and pressed his palms against the disc to steady it. Tuv Anarach tried to help him while Dhr Aurir and Sul Phathrax continued bickering.

"Fellows, come now. You should know: the best solutions are often the simplest," a gaunt red-bearded Noble chided as he strode over, walking past Sage and Kento. His skin looked quite pale, almost human-like. "Come here Koi!" The two Ronin exchanged glances when they heard-and felt-the floor shudder. They looked to the side and had to plaster themselves against the wall to make way for a Noble so big; his left elbow came close to both of their heads as he passed.

Out of all Bak's crewmembers, Koi Udsarrin looked the most like a living, breathing dinosaur, standing at a whopping eleven feet, though he might've stood taller if he didn't hunch over. Thick bushy gray eyebrows almost completely obscured his eyes.

The apprentices rolled the disc to the side to make way for the pale Noble, who tensed and reared back. The pale Noble spewed streams of bright steaming blue liquid from his nostrils, coating the top of the arch with what looked like ice. He rubbed frost off of his muzzle and stepped back. "Allright Koi, strike here. Here, right here," the pale Noble tapped the arch.

Koi tilted his head up and peered at the arch. He ponderously raised one arm then with shocking speed, struck the rock with his claws like a spade. The entirety of the arch covered in the icy fluid broke and fell, and Dhr lunged forward and caught the frozen chunk in his arms then carried it away. The other three apprentices turned the disc and rolled it into the chamber, and this time it cleared the arch with room to spare.

"Thanks Rgn!" Sul said gratefully and the four apprentices resumed their task.

"Thank you Koi. That was very good. Go now and rest," Rgn Chorrez patted the huge Noble on the arm. Koi snorted contentedly and turned to leave. He paused, however, when he spotted someone standing in his path. He had to tilt his muzzle down since it blocked his field of view.

Tanya stood there staring up at the Noble with her arms folded over her chest. Koi let out a confused hum upon seeing the petite human female whose entire torso looked smaller than his head. Beauty and the Behemoth stood there facing each other for several moments.

Tanya reached up and grasped Koi's muzzle with her hands and pulled it lower until it hung close to her face. "That's a good Koi, that's a nice Koi! Ooh you're so nice! You're so nice!" she began cooing and rubbed her cheek against his muzzle. Koi's own cheeks turned pale as a peach. Sage and Kento observed aghast and exchanged horrified glances, but they kept quiet.

"Very good Koi. You've done very well," Rgn praised and walked over to pat Koi.

"How come _you_ guys talk to him that way?" Tanya asked and leaned away.

"It's the only way he understands. He's got half a brain." Rgn blinked in surprise when he saw Tanya scowl and tilt her head to one side. "I'm being entirely serious!"

"…Oh…OH! Oh…wow…that sucks…poor guy," she muttered and patted Koi's muzzle.

"Pity is wasted on him. Rares such as us have to quickly find our niche in society."

"'Rares'?"

"A polite way to say 'genetic defect' I suppose. Rares are Nobles with special abilities few others have. My body is capable of naturally producing freonine. It's the same stuff found in Frono's skies. Koi here is the biggest Noble on record in the past age. He's a bit dim, but at least here he can serve a better cause," Rgn explained and patted Koi in the arm.

"How many of you guys are Rares?"

"The two of us…Bau: he's lighter than he looks…"

"Is…is Mal Daggur a Rare?" Tanya paused petting Koi and narrowed her eyes.

"Yes, unfortunately. He was born for conquest, it seems…" Rgn admitted.

"Ronin Warriors! We need your assistance in here!" Sul hollered from the large chamber. Kento, Sage, and Tanya were the only ones near enough to answer and headed for the room. They found the apprentices standing by the wall with the disc. "Bau and the Captain are still working on the living quarters, so we'll have to do this ourselves. We'll need you three to stand on that side…over there. Spread out evenly, about arms length apart," Sul instructed.

"ITA! MIZ!" Dhr stuck his head out into the main cavern and bellowed. Kento's eyes widened upon seeing a very scary-looking female Noble stride into the room, followed by a meek little Common. Dhr pointed to the middle of the floor.

"Do I have to…" Miz sighed and hung his shoulders. Ita hissed something in Thunthen and swatted him in the thighs with her tail club. Miz reluctantly stepped into the middle of the room and crouched down on hands and knees. Ita assumed a similar position beside him.

"Should get Koi too, you think? KOI!" Dhr yelled again. They waited a few moments for the Rare to arrive. He had to duck his head to clear the archway and squeeze through. The apprentices rolled the stone disc around the room until it separated Koi from the rest of the room.

"Okay, when I give the word, Koi will tip the disc forward, so be ready to catch it," Sul said.

"Wait, what?" Sage blinked.

"KOI! NOW!" Dhr barked. Koi crouched down and grabbed the lower edge of the disc securely and heaved upward, tilting the disc forward as he did so. The disc landed on Miz and Ita's shells, and the far edge smacked into the palms of the three Ronin. Koi held up his side mostly by himself. The three Ronin struggled with the effort despite wearing sub-armor, as the disc felt a great deal heavier than it looked. Kento had to keep readjusting his grip.

"Hold it steady, damn you!" Sul shouted. "Tanya's holding up more than her fair share, and she' a _female_!" Miz blinked when he saw Tanya's middle finger swing out briefly.

"This will only take a minute," Tuv assured as he and Vud grabbed stout stone cylinders from the floor and knelt down on opposite sides of the disc. They carefully positioned the cylinders under the disc, lining them up with corresponding deep indentions in the granite slab. They stood back up after placing a total of ten cylinders. "Okay, it should be ready."

"Lower it: Slowly," Sul said sternly. Koi and the three Ronin did so and heard a faint grinding crunch from the tops of the cylinders sliding into the indentions. Dhr peered under the slab then stood back up and nodded. "Release." The three Ronin did so gratefully and stepped back, shaking hands and stretching arms. Koi looked no worse for wear by the effort. Miz and Ita crawled out from under the supported slab and shrugged their shells.

"This next part must be done very carefully," Tuv whispered and crouched down to retrieve a stack of smaller discs wrapped in film. He held the stack in his arms while Vud walked over and took the top half of the stack. They headed to opposite sides of the slab while Dhr and Sul made rounds of the slab carrying tubes tipped with metal nozzles. They squeezed out globs of a milky viscous substance into the shallow indentions along the inner edge of the top of the disc.

Kento, Sage, and Tanya watched intrigued as Vud and Tuv peeled the film off each polished disc and placed them into the indentions as if setting plates out for dinner. Dhr and Sul followed behind them and gently nudged the discs into the indentions securely, twitching them from side to side until they lined up just so with the edge of the slab. Vud and Tuv finished setting out the discs and moved off to the side to retrieve a much larger thin disc covered in film. They lifted it over the slab and held it out for Dhr and Sul to take the other edge. The four apprentices held the disc gingerly with the tips of their claws and lowered it into the large indention in the center.

"Ryo…you need to come down and see this," Tanya whispered into her wrist-com. The disc settled into the depression with a soft crunch and Sul peeled off the film. Koi shuffled to the side to make way for the Ronin Leader and Rowen and Cye as they entered the chamber.

The four apprentices moved to the side of the wall and remained quiet, but their blocky faces glowed with pride at their work. Ten onyx-and-gold tiles ringed the inner edge of the slab. The Wildfire insignia occupied the place farthest from the entrance, while Typhoon claimed the closest spot. To the right of Wildfire went Strata, Hardrock, Halo, and Torrent. To the left went Cruelty, Illusion, Corruption, and Venom. At the center rest a stylized samurai-helm emblem.

"What do you think?" Tanya asked with a giddy grin. Ryo's mouth spread in a wide smile.

"I think it looks awesome."

* * *

"I think it looks fabulous!" Michelle beamed and gazed about the vaulted ceiling.

"It needs a bit more work before it can be called a home. Bak said something about doing a presentation for us, so once that's out of the way, we can go to your old place and retrieve all your stuff," Kento offered. Michelle rapped her knuckles against the rock.

"You hear that? I can't wait to be able to sleep without hearing the neighbor's cats."

"I don't think it was the cats making those noises," Anubis muttered and glanced at her. Rgn Chorrez stood near the entrance and glanced from Anubis to Michelle.

"If you…don't mind me asking; you're his daughter, but I also understand you're a civilian. You do not seem surprised by us," he commented.

"Oh, I've seen stranger things believe me. I attended the wedding on Thanged, after all."

"Besides, she's happens to be a bonafide…uh…shawoman? Shamgirl?" Kento grimaced.

"Shamaness," Anubis corrected. Michelle giggled and shook her head.

"And you guys are a lot more exciting than little green men," she added.

"Or anything Wells dreamed up," Anubis shrugged. Rgn raised both eyebrows.

"You've read that?" Anubis regarded him with equal surprise.

"Have you?"

"No, but Ander referenced it often. When he met the Captain the first time, he was terrified he'd 'feast on his blood'," Rgn replied with a hearty chuckle. Anubis smiled, at once grateful for the reference and intrigued by the Noble. Then he glanced up at the ceiling and frowned.

"Hrm…I can't say I'm a fan of this being here," he muttered and studied the solitary thick magmite hanging from the center of the ceiling.

"This was one of the few natural chambers that didn't require heavy excavation…I'm sure we can clear it out no problem. Where's that big guy?" Kento asked and glanced at Rgn.

"Koi! Come here please!" Rgn hollered. Michelle took a step to the side when she saw the huge Noble arrive. Koi tucked his head and shoulders in and squeezed his shell through the opening. Rgn turned to the magmite and snorted a layer of frost where it met the ceiling.

"You sure you don't want me to help?" Kento offered. Rgn waved at him.

"I've got it. It's not that big," Rgn assured and splayed his fingers around the magmite. "Okay Koi, strike now!" Rgn nodded towards the top of the magmite. Koi pulled his arm back then thrust, neatly severing the magmite from the ceiling.

Apparently heavier rock composed the magmite as it slipped right through Rgn's grasp and impaled itself into the floor. "_BHAZZAK_!" Rgn swore and grimaced. Koi let out a distressed hum and shifted about on his feet. Michelle patted him on the arm comfortingly.

"Great. Now there's great big spike in the middle of the floor," Anubis grumbled and slapped his hands against his hips. Rgn rubbed his hand over his muzzle and sighed.

"I'll go get Bau. Maybe he can think of something…" he muttered.

"Actually, hold on there," Kento interjected and backed up a step. He raised one hand and framed the magmite with his fingertips then squinted at it. He made stroking motions with his other hand and the rock began shifting, obeying his commands. Koi's eyebrows moved up high enough to expose his beady black eyes and Rgn's jaw dropped low enough to almost rest along his chest. The two Nobles and Anubis and Michelle watched as Kento shaped the magmite as easily as a potter molding clay upon a wheel. He made a pinching motion and the gap between the floor and the magmite sealed up seamlessly. The top of the magmite expanded and flattened.

Kento lowered his arms and folded them over his chest to survey his work. "And now it's a nice coffee table," he grinned proudly. Anubis raised both eyebrows and let out a satisfied grunt. Koi made a pleased hum and Michelle rubbed his muzzle, smiling. Rgn's jaw still hung slack.

* * *

"Whoa!" Ryo exclaimed as they entered the 'communications center' and saw the huge complex of viewing screens and consoles set up by the far wall. "You guys were able to make all this in less than a day?" The main screen easily shamed the most advanced TVs of the day.

"We are not so disparate that it's just the twelve of us opposed to Mal Daggur," a red-bearded Noble Cye recognized as the same who had chewed out Miz earlier spoke from the side of the room. "We have contacts within Mal Daggur's fleet itself that ferry information and materials."

"Ronin Warriors, Naz Dassyr; my senior technician," Bak introduced. Naz spotted Cye and acknowledged him with a curt nod. He seated himself in a chair with thick armrests and no back, apparently designed to accommodate a Thunthen's shell and tail. Bak took a position to the left of the console. Ryo, Rowen, Tanya, Sage, Cye, Kento, and Anubis stood in the room, having answered Bak's request. "You've had the questionable fortune of surviving encounters with both Mal Daggur himself and the forces at his disposal. In order to better understand and combat these forces, you should know what they are capable of and what they have already done."

"I will tell you this now," Naz began and swiveled the chair around to face the Ronin. "Many of us served under the command of Sur and Mal Daggur. Our hands are no less bloodied."

"It's not our place to pass judgment or place blame for the actions of the past. I've seen and done my fair share of bad things," Anubis assured and waved a hand.

"We've got a saying for that too. It involves a pot," Rowen said with a grin.

"And a kettle," Anubis finished. Bak and Naz exchanged glances then looked at them again.

"While I appreciate the vote of confidence, I sincerely doubt any among you have participated in anything as terrible as what we are about to show you," Naz said sadly.

"This is an image record of the Battle of Banguk," Bak explained as Naz ran the tips of his claws over the console and called up a video on the main screen. The Ronin watched amazed at the sight of the huge Thunthen ships being harried by Thangien riders astride feather-winged Pegacorn. "The Thangien Ranks had repulsed Sur Daggur's advance, and planned to drive the fleet back to the home world and rout them. The course of the battle took them near Planet Banguk, and it was there that Sur Daggur exacted his vengeance."

Rowen felt his spine shudder at the sight of the single massive ship lurking behind the bulk of the ongoing battle. From the side, the _Vyerrdeklagn_ looked like a twisted spiked cornucopia with a thin mouth like a cuttlefish. The immense vessel turned sideways, seeming to stare hungrily at the brilliant green Planet Banguk below. The colossal plates forming the ship's signature maw swung open, and _Vyerrdeklagn_ disgorged a swarm of burning bright objects, sending them in clusters towards the surface of the planet.

The Ronin watched horrified as the first of the swarms spread out in all directions along the surface, leaving fire in their wake. The rest of the swarms followed, and as they swept over the surface, the leading edge of the fires looked like the jaws of a colossal beast swallowing up everything green and beautiful on Planet Banguk. Kento glanced to the side when he heard a strangled cry and saw Tanya turn away from the sight, clamping her hands over her face. Sage felt his throat tighten, and Cye forced himself to watch. Ryo felt a familiar kind of dread settle in his heart. Even Anubis, who'd seen more than his fair share of battle, paled at the sight. Rowen's gut felt cold. _If he'd been just a few degrees to the side…_

A piercing cry echoed from the speakers, forcing the Ronin to cover their ears.

"My apologies," Naz ran a claw along the console and the cry diminished in volume. "I always forget about that part of the audio," he grimaced.

"Audio? What?" Ryo wrinkled his nose, confused since the battle took place in space.

"What in the balls was that?!" Tanya squawked and removed her fingers from her ears.

"It was Ander…" Cye whispered hoarsely, remembering the story Azuro had recounted.

_"…he screamed for each and every soul, voicing a cry unlike any had heard before or since. Since that fateful day…we Thangiens have tried to recreate that cry of anguish…"_

Cye had heard his fair share of Soul Screams, and not one that he remembered came close.

The record continued, and the Ronin's attention fell upon a small dot that rushed towards one of the capital ships between the Thangien Ranks and the _Vyerrdeklagn_. The small dot produced a massive swathe of boiling flame that formed a Metra Wave.

"Thangiens are quick to remember that Ander met his end at the hands of a Thunthen," Bak narrated as the Metra Wave sliced the flagship in half. "But what never reached their ears was that he took the Thunthen's greatest commander with him. So it was that Sur Daggur perished aboard his personal vessel, 'The Roaring Mountain'."

"That's what you meant then…what you told Danae," Ryo spoke up. "'Who rode the stars and broke the mountain'." Bak nodded solemnly. The record finished and Naz called up a diagram of multiple types of Thunthen ships.

"This represents the hierarchy of Mal Daggur's fleet. These here are the D-class fighters."

"I remember them. I managed to take a few down before I got knocked out. They got a weak point in the axle shaft between the cockpit and the main wing," Rowen pointed at the screen.

"Ah, very good. They are the most numerous of the smaller fighters and form the…um…the…'bread and butter' of the fleet. These are troopships. They serve to ferry squads of armored Nobles to the ground for large-scale infantry assaults. As you know firsthand, a lone well-equipped Noble can be just as formidable as any fighter craft. Then you have the super-carriers, _Ramahatesguad_; Hammer of the Stars, and _Huzonthunorthplier_, The Grinding Teeth. Together they form the…'meat and potatoes' of the greater fle-"

Bak and Naz glanced to the side sharply when they heard a faint gurgle. "Wasn't me," Kento said abruptly. Cye rolled his eyes and smacked a palm against his forehead.

"As tempting as a target they would be, you would do well to avoid direct attacks against these two ships as they house the vast majority of the Noble army. Bloodshed should be avoided for both sides," Bak advised solemnly. Ryo nodded in agreement.

"And this, of course, is Maw of Flame. I admit with much regret that I once helmed its construction. It was _never_ intended for such abominable use!" Naz hissed and thumped a fist against the console edge. "It was initially designed as a terraformer; meant to seed a desolate planet with the microbes necessary to produce life! But such was Sur Daggur's twisted logic, that why spend precious time and resources seeding a new world…when there was a perfectly habitable one nearby. All that was needed…was to 'clear it up'," Naz sneered and called up again the image of Planet Banguk in flames.

"Then why hasn't Mal Daggur used it here?" Anubis argued, drawing curious gazes from the other Ronin. "If it's capable of such power, why not just destroy us and be done with it?"

"Because he doesn't want a repeat of what happened on Banguk," the Ronin looked towards the entrance as Tar Uhnin walked inside. He glanced over his shoulder at the entryway briefly before walking over to the right of the console. "This is what Planet Banguk looked like nearly thirty of your years ago, yes?" he folded his arms over his chest and pointed a claw at the screen. "And this, is what it looks like today," he reached out and tapped the console.

An image came up of a verdant-choked world. The Ronin gasped in disbelief, muttering comments and shouting exclamations. "Firing the _Vyerrdeklagn_ had the desired effect, but not the desired result. By obliterating all of the ancient growth, the fires allowed a previously obscure type of flowering plant to proliferate across the globe. Its pollen is highly toxic to our biology." Tar's body shuddered as he let out a hoarse chuckle. "The planet is poisonous to us now! How fitting; that only in death would the Bangukians have justice…" he laughed grimly.

"Mal Daggur will break the people of this world, and before he does so, he will attempt to break you all. He nearly succeeded, and he will try again; you can be certain of that. All of this," Naz gestured to the console then to the walls and entryway. "Is intended to help prepare you for what is to come. Here we can monitor incursions and direct you accordingly. We failed once before to save both our own world and Planet Banguk. The blood of millions of people stains our hands same as Mal Daggur's, and as penance, we will shed our own to aid you."

"I will not have it said," a voice spoke up from the entryway and the Ronin looked over to see Azuro leaning against the frame. "That a Thunthen be more willing than a Thangien to give up his life for the sake of the Oldworld." Cye noticed how he sounded hoarse. How much of the presentation had he heard? It seemed as if revelation had extinguished the flames of bitterness. Azuro looked up at the gathered Ronin and Nobles. "I have received word from the Watch Rider and the Council of Houses that all Thunthen who take up the cause of the Ronin Warriors are to be given pardon, and counted as Blade Brothers and Sword Sisters.

"If it is the will of the Ronin, and it is the will of the Council, then it is the will of the Queens, and I must obey," Azuro sighed and pushed himself away from the frame. "I will return to Bainshaebo and direct efforts to mobilize our Ranks. Mal Daggur believes he can hold this world hostage, but he will grow complacent, and when that time comes, we will bring our full wrath against _him_. That will be my-_our_-penance." With that, he turned and walked away into the main cavern, and presumably towards the exit tunnel.

Sage let out a snort, and Ryo looked equally dubious of the Metraind's sincerity. "Thangiens are fond of saying, that 'forgiveness can only be earned'," the Ronin looked at Bak, who spoke. "But _Ander_ was fond of saying, that forgiveness is a 'two-way street'."

Rowen smiled and nodded, finally understanding why Yainae had kept Ander's fate a secret. _It's only in hindsight that we realize how stupid it is to hate…_

* * *

"Hey there." Miz nearly jumped out of the console chair and quickly tapped a claw on the console when he heard the voice and turned around to see Cye standing in the entryway. "Whatcha doing up so late, Miz?" Cye asked and walked over to the console.

"Oh! I drew late shift. The Captain tasked me with monitoring signals, looking for anything out of the orginary," Miz hastily stated and stood. "Rather boring, really. Nothing exciting goes on at this hour, it seems." Cye seemed more interested in the console than Miz's stammered explanation. He peered down at the various glowing spots on the command pad. "B-b-but I assure you, I most certainly would not use precious resources for personal entertainme-"

Cye reached out with a hand over one of the spots and tapped it with a fingertip. The main screen displayed a video of two figures grappling in what looked like a miniaturized flimsily-built 'cityscape'. A tall humanoid clad in red and silver with bulbous silver eyes and a narrow fin atop the head unleashed a volley of energy blasts with his fists. His bulky monstrous opponent staggered from the barrage and toppled onto its back, flailing its arms. The humanoid swept his arms about, clenching his fists triumphantly.

Miz tucked his head close to his shell and tensed. He squeezed his eyes shut but opened them when he heard footsteps. "Goodnight," Cye said with a smile and waved before exiting the room. Miz lowered himself back into the chair very slowly.

Not once did he remember _not_ getting a staggering clout upside the head for such antics. Courtesy and trust were concepts very unfamiliar to him… He swiveled back towards the console but stared over his shoulder at the entryway. He tapped his fingertips against the armrests and lashed his tail from side to side before glancing back at the console, raising an eyebrow. He leaned down under the desk and pulled a bucket out and set it in his lap, proceeding to stuff his mouth with the fluffy white kernels. Kento called it 'popping corn'…


	25. WILDCAT to the Rescue

WILDCAT to the Rescue

By Mardrena

_"ROWEN! These piece of shit wrist-coms of yours won't stay put!"_

_"Well, maybe you wouldn't be having problems if you ate more and had wrists with a circumference greater than that of a_ stick!"

_"Tanya, we're supposed to use these to relay information…"_

"_I_ am _relaying information! I'm informing him that his gadgets_ suck!"

_"You're just gonna have to wait until the Thunthen manufacture more of that elastic material."_

_"C'mon guys, keep channels clean, okay?"_

"_Tell that to your sister._ She's _the one cussing loud enough to wilt flowers!"_

"*_censored_* YOU!"

"I can't say I ever heard Ander use _that_ particular expletive before…" Naz Dassyr muttered as he stood close to the console and listened to the exchange relayed over the open channel. He arched an eyebrow and looked down at Miz Paufan, who sat in the chair. "Ugh! How much of that stuff must you insist on consuming!" he sneered as Miz snacked from a large bucket.

"Would you like to try some? It's quite tasty," the Common mumbled though a mouthful of buttered popcorn and held the bucket up towards Naz. Naz snorted and turned away, folding his arms over his chest. Unfortunately, the Captain had forbidden him from 'disciplining' Miz anymore, likely at the insistence of one of the Ronin; particularly Cye.

_"Still no sign of any Dynasty goons?"_

_"Nope. None. Why go though the trouble of showing up on the evening news then up and vanishing as soon as we get here?"_

_"They intend to engage us on their terms, for whatever reason. Be on your guard."_

"_Um! Guys! Hello? Mayday! Emergency! Or something!"_ Miz stiffened in his seat when he heard Kento's transmission through high-pitched popping noises. "_I'm being hit hard here!"_

"Is that…_gunfire_?" Naz narrowed his eyes.

"Attention all other Ronin! Kento is taking heavy fire in his post!" Miz announced.

_"You're not talking about the kind of fire Ryo makes, are you?"_

"No. Ryo's the closest to his position. He's about a block due northeast of you."

"_Gotcha. Kento! Any chance you can give me a visual reference for your area?"_

"No, cuz my arms are rather occupied at the moment," Kento muttered as he had his facemask down and held both arms to shield himself from the withering hail of small projectiles.

A different sort of Dynasty Soldier than any had ever seen held one arm raised and fired a steady stream what looked-and sounded-like bullets from a protruding section of its arm. The design of the armor closely resembled the classic style, except the body looked less bulky. Kento seethed at being forced on the defensive and weighed options in his mind. He remembered the secondary abilities of his bo and wondered how far his control extended. He concentrated on the claw cables built into the ends and tried to will them to emerge and strike his foe.

The gambit paid off and the claws whisked out and struck the Dynasty Soldier in the face from opposite sides. Kento sprang forward as soon as he heard the gunfire cease and retracted both cables then struck the soldier multiple times, crushing the head into the chest cavity and striking it hard enough in the right shoulder to almost sever the arm from the body. Any triumphant joy Kento started to feel melted to confusion when he saw the body _sparking_.

Kento cried out and convulsed when something struck him in the back and sent a violent current through his body. He tumbled forward and shakily pushed himself to hands and knees then looked to the side. His eyes widened when he saw multiple barrels like those found on Tanya's clawnchers hovering close to his face; close enough that if they opened fire; he couldn't be certain that one of the projectiles wouldn't find their way through his eyes or neck.

"How foolish of you, Ronin Warrior, to assume we would be alone," a second soldier laughed and clenched its fist. The barrels began rotating. Kento felt sweat streaming under his armor.

A flaming blade severed the arm at the elbow. The soldier grunted in annoyance and turned to face his attacker, but a second slash decapitated it neatly. Ryo positioned himself between the soldier and Kento, but frowned when he didn't see the billowing cloud that signaled the retreat of the spirit inside. The still-standing body retrieved a spear with a crackling tip from its back and tried to stab at Ryo aimlessly, but Ryo easily dodged each attack. Ryo watched bewildered and stepped out of the way as the body toppled towards him. The body staggered forward a few steps then tried to turn around. This time, Kento struck it in the side, breaking the remaining arm at the joint. The body sparked and sputtered before falling still.

"What the heck was that thing!? Some freaking Dynasty Droid, or something?"

"I dunno…but it explains why they waited to attack until we split up to find them," Ryo muttered and looked at the remains of the first soldier. He frowned when he realized they had yet to vanish. He knelt down and picked up the arm he'd severed earlier. He turned it about in his hands and studied the mechanism that protruded from the length of the arm.

* * *

"This is a magnificent gift, Shannon. Thank you!" Danae praised as she and Dais examined the white leather-bound book embossed with gold letters reading "Our Wedding Memories". Dais opened the book and flipped through the pages filled with pictures from the Pairing.

"Oh, Sehk looks like he's having fun there," Dais chuckled when viewing a photo of the closing concert. "How'd you get these developed without any questions?"

"The guy I went to is a friend of my Dad's, plus I told him the services were held overseas. He believed me," Shannon explained and grinned. "I still got the negatives in case you want larger prints for your walls," Shannon said and glanced about the newly-excavated chamber.

"Bare walls and empty halls do not a home make," the three looked to the entryway and saw the elderly Tar Uhnin. "We can only do so much with stone. Additional furnishings would have to be provided elsewhere. Perhaps your mother could have some things sent from home?"

"Of course," Danae replied with a smile.

"Hey, I heard about the little heirloom you gave to her," Shannon spoke up and nodded towards the sword Gold Wing, which Danae had taken to carrying slung across her back almost constantly lately. "You sure it was a good idea giving that to her? She _is_ pregnant, you know."

"Oh, there's no one more qualified to carry it! She's a Protector," Tar insisted.

"I've heard that several times. There a special meaning to it or something?" Dais asked.

"A Protector is…um…" Danae began and raised a knuckle to her lip. She smiled and glanced at Tar, apparently inviting him to provide his own insight. Tar returned the smile and nodded.

"In Thangien society, it's fairly rare for a family to have more than four children. The numerous Traels winnow the population. Yainae herself is the last survivor out of eight siblings. Families so blessed tend to ascribe roles to their children patterned after the Four Queens.

"Azuro is the Retributor. He is Witheren to the family, and as such is the first to meet swift and bloody vengeance upon those who would cause harm to the family. Aurora was the first to have children of her own, and represents Ritho as the Mother. She tends to be the compassionate and sensible sort. Danae is the Protector. She takes the role of Roth by placing herself between harm and her loved ones. Australa embodies Eyurodin as the Crafter. The youngest tends to be unburdened by the rigors of combat, and this allows ingenuity to flourish.

"Aurora is a capable warrior in her own right, nearly a Metraind herself despite the stress of delivering two strong sons. As I told Rowen the other day, an angry mother can be quite dangerous, but an expectant mother can be even more so," Tar explained and carefully placed a palm over Danae's stomach. Danae smiled and giggled softly.

"I can sorta see where he's coming from…after all, it's the lioness you have to worry about more, not the lion," Dais commented. The four of them shared a merry chuckle. Meanwhile, out in the hallway, Bak and Bau observed them.

"Captain…doesn't he look sort of like…well…without the bleached hair and missing eye of course…do you think he knows?" Bau whispered.

"No. Nor do I think we should tell him," Bak replied. Bau opened his mouth to protest, but Bak shook his head. "Keep in mind, old friend; we are guests in their company. We should not trouble them with the burdens of the past. They must learn the truth on their own."

Further down the residential hall in another newly-cleared chamber, Cale examined his designated room with all the glee of a boy. "I can scarcely believe it! We each get to have our own rooms? No more sharing beds! No more sharing bathrooms?"

"With all the comforts of the modern age. The Thunthen have worked wonders with this complex," Anubis said and gestured to the walls. "The volcano may be extinct, but it is by no means dead. The Thunthen were able to tap deep into the Earth's heat and use the energy to power various amenities such as lighting and air conditioning, along with-"

"THERMAL HOOOT SPRIIIINGS!" a voice sang merrily from further down the hall. Cale and Anubis exited the room and approached the speaker. They found Sehkmet, wearing sub-armor, sitting up to his chest in steaming bubbling water. "Bau and the Apprentices rigged this up by piping water in from the lake and circulating it in one of the old volcanic pits."

"You're gonna rust in there at this rate," Cale snorted.

"Right now, I'm feeling too good to care," Sehkmet moaned and immersed himself up to his chin in the simmering bath. Cale shook his head while Anubis wrinkled his nose.

"Sponge…" he sneered.

At the same time far away in the cavern complex, Ryo walked towards the newly completed infirmary and peered inside the medium-sized chamber. "Naz? You said you wanted to see me?"

"Hmm? Yes," Naz looked up from where he hunched over the remains of the decapitated Dynasty construct laid out upon one of the sturdy metal tables. Ryo walked over and stood on the opposite side of the table. "Your understanding of these beings is far deeper than mine, so perhaps you can offer me some insight as to their nature." Naz reached down and picked something up with his claws. "Can you tell me what this is?"

The object he held looked like a translucent bluish-gray ball, but closer inspection revealed multiple facets. Ryo leaned closer and squinted when he noticed a seething substance within the object. "It…it kinda looks like Nether essence…it's the stuff that comes out of Dynasty Soldiers when we kill'em," Ryo explained. Naz raised an eyebrow and glanced at the ruined body.

"So you're telling me this houses the _emdour_…the, um…consciousness?" Ryo nodded. "Hmm…I wonder then, if I were to subject it to a slight current…" Naz carried the object to another table and set it within an apparatus of some sort with multiple thin wires connecting it to one of the Thunthen computer tablets. Ryo watched amazed at how Naz managed to work with such intricate equipment despite the dagger-like claws. Naz stroked a claw over the tablet.

"-WHO ARE YOU WHO DARES HOLD MY SPIRIT HOSTAGE! I DEMAND YOU RELEASE ME PITIFUL MORTAL!" a gruff voice erupted from somewhere on the apparatus.

"You are in no position to make demands, my disembodied friend," Naz drawled. "We have a great deal of questions we would ask of you, and you will answer them all."

"I WILL TELL YOU NOTHING! I AM A SERVANT OF THE EMPEROR! I FEAR NO DEATH, FOR I CAN NEVER TRULY DIE! THERE IS NO PAIN YOU CAN INFLICT UPON ME THAT WOULD COMPEL ME TO OBEY YOUR WHIMS!"

"Wow, we got a regular chatterbox here…" Ryo muttered. Naz arched both red eyebrows and moved his hand over to the tablet screen.

"Is…that…so… I served under the command of Sur Daggur in his prime," Naz placed his palm against the screen and turned it to the side slightly. Ryo's eyes widened when he heard what sounded like a shriek of agony coming from the apparatus. "And I remain quite well versed in the art of torture," Naz snarled. His lips peeling back over his teeth seemed reminiscent of Mal Daggur. Naz pressed the pad again, and again the spirit of the Dynasty Soldier screamed.

"Whoa! Naz, stop! We don't do this!" Ryo scolded. Naz paused and looked at him. "Not even to our enemies. We don't treat them like this, that's not how we run things," Ryo stated and shook his head and waved his hands. Naz's expression softened, looking understanding rather than disdainful. He nodded slowly and removed his hand from the pad.

"_Ootonim_," he said in the Thunthen language.

"HAH! WHAT NEED HAVE THE DYNASTY TO FEAR FROM SUCH A _SQUEAMISH_ RONIN LEADER!" Both Ryo and Naz narrowed their eyes at that remark.

"…torture him." Ryo muttered and spun about on his heel to leave.

"WAIT!" Naz paused in placing his palm on the pad and Ryo looked over his shoulder. "I WILL TELL YOU THAT WHICH YOU SEEK…"

Ryo and Naz exchanged glances then looked at the multi-faceted object housing the spirit. "In return for?" Ryo asked and turned back around.

"RELEASE MY SPIRIT, SO THAT I MAY FACE PUNISHMENT FROM MY MASTER." Ryo raised an eyebrow, surprised by the request, but looked at Naz and nodded.

"By what manner did you acquire such advanced weaponry?" Naz queried.

"BY THE SKILL OF LORD TCHNETUN, MASTER ARTISAN OF THE DYNASTY! HE HAS GIFTED THE EMPEROR WITH KNOWLEDGE OF THE WORKINGS OF THE MORTAL REALM, TO INSURE THE DOWNFALL OF THE RONIN WARRIORS AND THEIR OUTWORLDER ALLIES! HE HAS EMPOWERED ALL OF THE EMPEROR'S ARMY. OUR ATTACK TODAY WAS MERELY A TEST. SOON WE SHALL MARCH FORTH AND CLAIM YOUR PATHETIC CITY ONCE AGAIN!"

"…Let me ask you something, disembodied voice…when you say 'outworlder', do you mean anyone not of this 'mortal realm', as you call it? Or are you referring exclusively to the Thangiens, whom you seem to have had much experience with? Because I'm afraid you have some rather poor news to return to your 'master'," Naz placed his palm on the tablet again and turned it, only this time Ryo didn't flinch or object when the spirit cried out. "For we are the Thunthen. We mapped the stars while the Thangiens huddled around their campfires singing songs of their ancestors. As you have earned the Ronin's ire, so too have you earned ours."

With that, Naz seized the faceted object in both hands and dug his claws into the material. Ryo watched as he squeezed tight, crushing the object from all sides. The material broke into fragments and spilled onto the table, but Naz tilted his head up and observed with great curiosity as the purplish smoke wafted up towards the ceiling of the chamber before dissipating. Their attention turned to the top of the table when the remains of the Dynasty Soldier disintegrated.

"Welp, looks like you'll be needing a new specimen," Ryo commented.

"I have enough data by which to go by…it's clear these new troops are intended to counter the Thangien Ranks…but, it's also clear they did not plan on you having our expertise by which to consult," Naz grinned toothily then frowned and raked his claws through his red beard. "Have the other Ronin convene in the exit tunnel in approximately four hours."

* * *

"I thank you all for coming here at this hour," Naz began, as it was rather late and most of the assembled Ronin seemed barely interested with a few of them yawning or cleaning out their ears. "As you all have heard, your long-time foe has taken to fielding mechanized troops in an effort to tilt the battle further in their favor. You only encountered a scant few of these… 'Dynasty Droids', as they've been termed," Kento grinned, pleased that they'd adopted the name he'd coined. "Were you to face them en masse, you might quickly find yourselves at a disadvantage.

"Previously, 'Dynasty Soldiers' were relatively easy to defeat. A single puncturing blow to the exterior metal shell, and the sentient vapor housed within-"

"Spirit," Ryo interjected.

"The _sentient vapor_ housed within would be expelled," Naz reiterated and closed his eyes. Ryo made a face, mildly surprised, but continued listening. "With these Dynasty Droids, that is no longer the case." Naz held up a mockup of the multi-faceted object he'd extracted from the previous specimen, made of translucent green material. "This serves as the new vessel for the being's consciousness, and it controls movement of the body by relaying commands throughout the systems. In this way it acts as a core processor.

"It sounds simple enough; destroy the core processor, destroy the enemy. However it is not so simple. The multi-faceted design of the core processor deflects any form of piercing or slashing attack, as you can see here." Naz demonstrated by stabbing the object multiple times with a claw, only to have it glance off of the surface. "So despite any external damage your opponent may suffer, as long as the core processor remains intact, your foe remains a threat.

"We've created these dummies to simulate the exact molecular density of the alloy used in these Dynasty Droids," Naz gestured behind him where Miz stood next to a row of replica soldiers made of the same translucent green material. "Damage dealt to them is to be treated as if this were live combat. We will measure the effectiveness of your individual fighting styles so that we may develop new methods of defeating these enemies." Naz nodded off to the side where he'd set up a large screen showing an internal view of a dummy and the core mockup inside.

"Gauraax Ryo, if you would?" Miz said and moved a dummy forward. Ryo drew both swords and tested his grip. He glanced from the screen to the dummy, trying to figure out where to strike the core. He tensed then stabbed, his sword running through the chest of the dummy.

The screen buzzed shrilly and Ryo glanced to the side. He saw the blade of his sword had merely grazed the top of the core. Naz shook his head. Ryo pulled the blade out and stabbed again. This time the blade bounced off towards the side. He scowled at the screen and prepared to attack again. Miz's eyes widened when he saw fire dancing along the edge and gave the dummy a wide berth as Ryo slashed. This time the blade cut the dummy in half from the right shoulder to the left hip. Steam rose from the core, having been melted through.

"Yeah!" "You show that dummy, Ryo!" "That's how you do it!" The others cheered, and Ryo stepped back, satisfied, but Naz frowned and scowled thoughtfully.

"How much energy does it take to execute that maneuver?"

"Not much," Ryo shrugged and sheathed his swords.

"How much is 'not much' when dealing with these by the dozen?"

"Oh…well for that I'd probably use my Wildfire Flare."

"Yes, but considering this is supposed to simulate close-range combat, you should conserve energy." Naz drew a tablet out of his shell and tapped an icon tagged "moderate success".

One golden arrow stuck into the chest plate of the next dummy. A second struck, followed by a third. The screen showed neither arrow had pierced the thick plate. The core processor remained intact and the screen buzzed in disappointment. "_tsk tsk_ It would seem your particular weapon is ill-suited against these constructs. If the next warrior would step for-uhh…Rowen? Your test is concluded. Rowen? Err…" Naz blinked when he saw Rowen scowl and pull back on the bowstring. "Rowen…I don't think-" A crackling boom echoed through the exit tunnel, and most of the other Ronin shut their eyes against the flash.

Miz peered through the large hole in the dummy. He looked from side to side then leaned back and made an "ok" sign with his fingers at Naz, who quickly tapped "moderate success".

The translucent green material crunched loudly as Kento buried his bo into the body between the right shoulder and neck. The dummy cracked in half down the front and the core mockup popped out and landed on the floor, rolling about a few inches before settling on one of the facets. Miz and Naz stared at the core a few seconds, blinking. Then Naz looked up at Kento. "Congratulations Kento, you smote your enemy so hard you caused him to quite literally crap himself," he said dryly. Kento giggled and brushed a thumb against his nose.

Anubis swung his chain at his side a few seconds before hurling it with such force that the claw plunged through the dummy's chest entirely. The chain dangled out the other side, and the core mockup rest snugly in the grip of the weighted claw. "Well done! If I'm reading this correctly, it measured an impact of at least 2600 psi. That's most impressive for manual force alone! And such precision!" Naz praised. Anubis smirked and coiled his chain.

"Pfft. Showoff…" Dais grumbled.

"Oh? I'd like to see _you_ do better!" Anubis challenged.

"Fine! Maybe I will!" Dais snorted and stepped forward as Miz brought out a fresh dummy and set it down. Dais tried striking with his nunchucks and morning star, but both weapons failed to pierce the chest plate, and the screen buzzed rudely. Dais growled angrily and raised his extensors and slashed at the dummy. All six sickle-shaped blades plunged through the core, splitting it in two. The screen beeped positively and Dais grinned in satisfaction.

"Very good, Dais, but if this were live combat, what would you do against the rest of your enemies who are arrayed against you?" Naz asked and waved to the remainder of the dummies.

"Um…hrm…" Dais tried to tug his extensors loose, but they remained firmly buried in the dummy. Dais tugged harder but paused when he heard a metallic tapping and felt something on his shoulder. He glanced to the side and saw Anubis rapping his knuckle against his armor.

"This is the sound of the enemy caving your skull in," Anubis said. Dais grumbled in dismay, and Naz ticked off "poor success" on his tablet.

Cye plunged his trident into the dummy, easily shattering the core and making a mess of the rest of the chest cavity, twisting his weapon like winding a fork through noodles. The screen beeped positively, but Miz looked almost terrified.

"That...that was a rather…_brutal_ strike…" he stammered, wide-eyed.

"I've had previous experience," Cye said flatly, scowling slightly as he tugged his trident loose along with a mess of wires. Naz ticked off "high success" on his tablet without hesitation.

Sehkmet sighed in disappointment when his initial attacks met with the same result as Ryo's earlier attempts. The edge of his Snake Fang Sword glanced off the facets uselessly.

"Wait! Look!" Cye exclaimed and pointed at the screen. The see-through vision showed the outer surface of the core mockup starting to slag inward, then peel open as acid ate away at the material. The screen beeped in approval and nearby Ronin congratulated Sehkmet and slapped him on the shoulder plates. Naz marked off "high success" on his tablet but blinked in surprise when he saw the rest of the dummy's interior started to melt.

"You might wanna move that outside…" Ryo cautioned. Miz picked up the dummy by the arms and scampered quickly down the exit tunnel, holding the melting dummy at arm's length.

Sage cleaved his dummy in half with a single slash, raising one hand and splaying his fingers in a confident flair. Miz clapped and some of the other Ronin cheered.

"Big deal. His blade's made of dererium. That's hardly a display of skill," Cale snorted.

"Then why don't you show me how you'd do it, 'veteran'?" Sage gestured to screen.

"Hrmph…I'll show you how we did it back in my day…" Cale unsheathed his sword and waited for Miz to get out of the way before slashing at the dummy. His sword severed one arm but lodged into the thick armor of the upper torso. Sage made a soft snort and Cale growled angrily. He pulled back with his claw gauntlet and thrust, plunging the blades into the chest and breaking the core mockup in half. The screen beeped and Cale let out a warlordish cackle.

He pulled back to extract his gauntlet, but the ridges of the armor plating seemed to have stuck inside the dummy. "Uh…hrm…just give me a moment…" Cale muttered and tugged again. Still the gauntlet refused to budge. He tugged harder, trying to wriggle loose, even going so far as to swing his feet up and brace them against the dummy's chest. Naz and Miz exchanged glances then looked back at Cale, who tugged with all his might to no avail. Naz sighed and tapped "poor success" on his tablet. "Oh come on!" Cale squawked in protest.

The chakaram stuck into the chest plate without breaching the armor. The launched blades also struck with negligible damage. One Swirlwind Sword glanced to the side of the core, and the other missed its mark wide. Naz made a clucking sound with his tongue and looked at his tablet. He frowned and glanced up when he heard a grinding creak. "Ahh…Tanya, your test came out negative. You're wasting your-"

Tanya had wrenched the chest plate of the dummy open with her other dagger and thrust her left arm into the chest cavity. The screen showed her hand closed around the core mockup. She snarled angrily as she tightened her grip around the core. The material started creaking, and much to the Thunthen's horror, cracks appeared in the faceted surface. Her fist closed and broken chunks of the core shell spewed about the chest cavity. Tanya slipped her arm out of the dummy with considerable ease and stalked away furiously. The other Ronin stepped out of her way.

They blinked and watched in surprise when Tanya spun about on her heel and stalked back over to the dummy quickly. She took a step back then swung up with her right knee, burying it into the crotch of the dummy with enough force that the girdle pushed up into the upper chest. Satisfied, she stormed away towards the back of the group.

Naz's claw had been hovering over 'poor success', but he quickly tapped 'high success'. Miz whimpered and tucked his head down towards his chest, almost trying to retreat inside his shell.

"…Allright then…well, after all of your tests, we've concluded that crushing and chopping blows have the highest rate of success. Piercing and slashing attacks can be viable when augmented with energy manipulation, but I advise caution when facing large numbers. Although I find it rather unusual that the enemy would neglect to use corrosion-resistant materials, acid is also quite effective, so their loss is our gain," Naz explained.

"What about other vulnerable points? You said the core controls the body…what if we sever connections to the core?" Ryo suggested and walked over to another dummy, tracing an outline on the chest plate with his index finger. "I mean, they can't fight without any arms, right?"

"Destroying the core would be more efficient."

"Well, seeing as how Talpa's obviously going through so much trouble to get a leg up on us, it's only fair that we return the effort," Ryo reasoned and shrugged.

"Hey, you realize what this means right? We can't face these guys anymore in anything less than full armor," Rowen brought up and frowned.

"Forces of darkness; playing dirty since time immemorial," Cye rolled his eyes.

"Kento very well may have met his end today if not for the Thunthen's aid," Anubis added.

"Eh, for all we know the bullets mighta ricochet off that thick skull of his," Dais chuckled.

"I choose to take that as a complement," Kento sniffed and stuck his nose into the air.

"I will have the Apprentices manufacture more dummies for you to practice with. Miz, deliver these results to Sul," Naz ordered. Miz took the tablet and scurried towards the main cavern. The other Ronin followed him towards the main cavern, discussing potential new strategies.

"Hey, Anubis, wait up a sec," Ryo called. Anubis paused and looked over his shoulder. "Who's Lord Tchnetun? The guy we interrogated referred to him by name. He said he's the one responsible for these new guys. I thought you'd told us about all the Dynasty lieutenants."

"Hrm…well…he's not exactly a lieutenant, at least not in the same sense as the Brothers. He's more of a…I suppose you could say 'technical consultant'. He spends the majority of his time in his personal realm, studying the advances made by society here in the Mortal Realm. The Dynasty draws power from fear, and mortals fear that what they don't understand. The more a threat is understood, the less threatening it becomes, until it's no longer feared.

"I suspect civilians such as Mia, Roxi and Brianna have given the Dynasty reason to believe that mortals don't scare as easily as they used to. The Thangien's consistent support has also convinced the Dynasty to change tactics. Rowen is correct about us having to adapt, but the Thangiens themselves would likely be affected as well, since they ride unarmored."

"That's another thing…I've been noticing soldiers being a lot more chatty lately…"

"Ahh, that's largely due to the nature of the Brother's forces in particular. They are culled from wicked souls swayed to the Dynasty over the centuries. They still retain the tactical thinking of a human warrior, even as spirits. They've thrown their lot in with the Dynasty, and redemption is impossible for them, as they've completely given up their humanity."

"Wait…so you're saying…we're dealing with…human spirits now…" Ryo frowned.

"I'm afraid so," Anubis admitted before departing. "Things only get harder from here on out," he added over his shoulder. Ryo let out a sigh and scowled.

"Ryo." Ryo looked over his shoulder when he heard Naz speak. "I may have something that could aid you out in the field. I've been working on it for some time, but I would require a live reference to complete it, and to that end I have a rather unusual favor to ask of you."

"Sure. Go for it," Ryo asked and shrugged.

Indeed, Naz's request was unusual as he spoke: "I need to borrow your cat."

* * *

Ryo didn't think it was possible for Whiteblaze to have as sour an expression as he did now, but he managed just that as the Apprentices poked and prodded, taking measurements of various areas of his body. Tuv lifted one of the great paws and gently pinched the finger pads, examining how the claws extended and sheathed. Dhr took note of the proportions of the tiger's face, even measuring the ears, which were flattened. Vud sat off to the side sketching something on one of the computer tablets with a claw. Sul picked up the long striped tail and held it taut to measure its length, but he cringed wide-eyed when Whiteblaze swung his great head around and growled.

"No mauling," Ryo ordered sternly. Whiteblaze snorted and turned back around to sulk.

* * *

Clouds drifted over downtown, and far below people went about their daily tasks. Only a few people happened to stop and gaze up at the sky long enough to wonder why some clouds appeared to be pressing up against something. Then they considered that staring up at the sky during broad daylight might be a bad idea and continued on their way.

"How pathetic, that we continue to skulk behind illusions like a pack of cowards…"

"It is best to tread on the side of caution, Khamnes," Duratir said as he and Duratin entered the colonnade. The slim armored warrior with green trimming and gold helm crests looked over his shoulder at the Brothers. "Lest we incur the wrath of the Ronin and their allies."

"'Incur their wrath'? HAH! The Dynasty has fallen far if we fear _mortals_…"

"Does it not give you pause to hear that the Ronin Warriors potentially have yet a new ally? If the reports from the scout are to be believed, they may prove an even greater threat."

"Pah, even with your new bodies, you two still behave like the doddering old men you once were. In a matter of days, I shall take a contingent into the city, and we will _remind_ the mortals what it is to fear! You can stay up here and watch from afar my victory!" With that, Khamnes exited the colonnade with a swagger. The Brothers glared after him.

"We will watch…"Duratir muttered.

"But I doubt it will be your victory," Duratin snorted.

* * *

"I want to thank you all for coming here this morning," Bak Thraplek said and waved both hands. To his left stood Naz Dassyr, and to his right Chi Chi Lina, Australa. The youngest of Ander's daughters apparently shared the same opinion as her sisters when it came to working alongside the Thunthen, and had eagerly pursued the task given to her at Naz's special request. She looked exceptionally bouncy, wiggling from side to side apparently excited about something. Most of the Ronin living up in the estate and a few of the Elders stood in the middle of the main cavern, accompanied by Kayura and Whiteblaze, all curious about all the fuss.

"Thankfully a week has passed without incident from our enemies, allowing our esteemed artisans to finish their masterpiece. Through the vision of Naz Dassyr," Bak gestured to Naz, who didn't hesitate to preen. "And the skilled hands of Chi Chi Lina, Australa," Australa smiled and bounced up in place a few times. The Elders traded whispered remarks about how long-winded the Thunthen captain could be. "We have created what I hope will come to embody the marriage between our people's technology," with that, Bak stepped to the side.

The Ronin heard the whispering hiss of hydraulics and a heavy clanking. Then they saw it, and Ryo's eyes widened in shock as he took a step back. A long smooth-segmented tail lashed behind it, tipped with a tapered cylinder. Four thick, powerful limbs ending in four-clawed feet clacked against the polished onyx-and-gold floor tile. Blue stripes marked the face, sides, and limbs of the steel-gray body, while red bordered the ears and nose and gold adorned the sharp crests on the shoulders, hips, elbows, and knees. The eyes glowed blue, but the mouth hung open, unmoving and displaying a row of sharp metal teeth.

"It is my greatest honor and pleasure to present you with, the WILDCAT. Weapons-Integrated Live Defensive Combat and Tactical Support."

"…then shouldn't it be called 'WILDCaTS?" Kento quipped idly, earning scowls from both Naz and Australa. Naz let out a dismissive snort while Australa closed her eyes and sniffed.

"We built it using the same principles behind the Pegasi, with dererium mined from Thanged and phergon from Thunthen. Phergon has more practical uses than just providing heat," Naz explained, casting a glance at Australa, who giggled. "The Halo Forge will burn for years to come from just a single sample. With the WILDCAT, we've utilized our phergon-powered closed-fusion technology to equip it with enough armaments to embarrass a carrier. We-"

Whiteblaze erupted with angry growling and took a step forward. He flattened his ears against his head and his lips peeled over his gums. Whiteblaze growled louder and he stepped closer, lashing his tail quickly. WILDCAT's HUD registered Whiteblaze and analyzed him before producing the text in its personal vision reading "Threat Level: Negligible".

"WHOA! Whiteblaze! Easy! It's just a robot!" Ryo squawked and ran over, promptly wrapping his arms around his friend's thick neck and trying to hold him steady. Whiteblaze continued stepping forward, dragging Ryo along with him.

"Actually the proper term is 'automaton'," Naz sniffed.

"I do not understand why he would feel offended," Australa remarked, blinking in surprise at Whiteblaze's agitation. "We forged the chassis in his likeness."

"Yeah, I don't think he appreciates the homage," Ryo grunted as he tried to no avail to keep Whiteblaze from pressing forward. The soles of his feet started squeaking against the floor, until finally his butt rest against the tile. Naz and Bak exchanged glances before Bak sighed.

"KOI! KOI! Come here please! Will you please remove this _fenda_ from the premises?"

The other Ronin looked sideways when they heard the echoing thump of heavy footsteps, and Ryo continued to struggle with his companion. Whiteblaze himself didn't notice the newcomer until Koi Udsarrin scooped him up unceremoniously off the floor. The tiger let out a strangled, confused-sounding growl of the sort no one had ever heard from him before and squirmed as Koi cradled him in his arms on the way to the exit tunnel. Ryo remained sitting on the ground and watched the two leave before heaving himself to his feet.

"Captain! CaptainCaptainCaptain!" Miz chattered as he ran over. "I just picked up alerts from civilian radio signals! Multiple enemy sightings in their metropolitan area!"

"Finally!" "We're on!" "Time to put those new techniques to use…" the other Ronin cheered.

"Ah! This will be an excellent opportunity to field-test the new WILDCAT unit!" Naz spoke up suddenly. "It is fast enough to arrive wherever it's needed in mere seconds. It requires a simple vocal command, which I will provide you with. Should you find yourselves pressed hard by Dynasty Droids, merely call the WILDCAT. Perhaps once you've soundly beaten the enemy, they will reconsider their faith in their new forces."

* * *

"See, normally white is recessive, but since both of the parents are white, it ended up being dominant in the two girls. Orange is recessive in them, but it still had a chance to pop up in any children, and it did with the boy," Yulie explained as he leaned against the rail overlooking the tiger enclosure at the zoo. Far below, the tigress Kiasha calmly observed her cubs at play. They had grown considerably since the first time Yulie had seen them as newborns, and now easily dwarfed full-grown housecats. The two white females napped while the orange male paced.

"Very good, Yulie!" Mrs. Yamano beamed. "Have you come up with names for them?"

"That one over there is Whisker. See how the fur pokes out all over the place around her nose. The other girl I named Snow since I don't think her stripes will ever grow in all the way."

"…that orange one's got a bit of a mean streak," Mr. Yamano commented as he watched the orange male pad over to Whisker and start tussling with her. Whisker pushed her brother away and rolled onto her back, brandishing her paws. The male seemed to grow tired with her and turned around, noticing how his other sister seemed to think she could exclude herself from the brawl. He padded over and promptly seized Snow by the shoulders and flipped her onto her back, with Snow swatting at him half-heartedly, almost bored.

"I call _him_ Magma, cuz he reminds me of Ryo," Yulie snickered. "The zoo's never seen a tiger in captivity give birth to three healthy cubs at the same time. They're still not sure who the dad is, but they probably just assume Kiasha was pregnant before she got here since the cubs were born a good while after she arrived."

"What do you supposed they'll do with them when they're grown?" Mrs. Yamano asked.

"Eh, probably split them up and ship them to different zoos," Mr. Yamano shrugged.

"Oh, that would be a shame! Considering how special they are…" while the humans up above talked, Kiasha glanced about, faintly recognizing Yulie's face.

The humans jumped, startled when the other nearby enclosures erupted with agitated cries. Elephants trumpeted in distress, birds wheeled about, and monkeys shrieked and beat their branches. Kiasha flattened her ears and rose to all fours while her cubs still played blissfully.

"What on Earth has gotten into them all?" Mrs. Yamano whispered. Yulie glanced around until he spotted a security station and ran over. A lone guard lounged inside.

"Sir, can you change to a news station real quick?" Yulie asked. The guard glanced at him and lazily thumbed the button on his personal TV.

_"Reports are coming in that downtown is once again under attack by unidentified forces. Eyewitnesses describe the attackers as being heavily-armed, possibly members of a foreign terrorist organization. Citizens are advised to avoid the downtown area and remain indoors until the defense forces arrive to engage this new threat…"_

"Huh…that sucks…" the guard muttered. Yulie stepped away from the booth.

"Mom, Dad, I want you to take the car and get home as quickly as possible."

"Wait, what? You can't go off…fighting the 'forces of darkness', or whatever! It-it's a school night!" Mr. Yamano sputtered weakly as Yulie pulled a gleaming pearl from his pocket.

"I don't want the Dynasty getting their mitts on you a second time!" Yulie growled sternly and clenched the pearl. His clothes flashed and changed into loose-fitting white leather armor. Thankfully most other zoo visitors' attentions remained on the hysterical animals. Mr. and Mrs. Yamano exchanged embarrassed glances when Yulie cupped his mouth and let out a high-pitched yowl, but again the cries of the animals masked the unusual sound.

Much to the Yamanos' relief, no one else but the animals noticed the distant shrill bubbly whistle as White Wind soared overhead and swooped down at an angle. Yulie ran over to the fence and sprang up, bounding off of the bars and launching himself into the saddle.

Mr. Yamano clamped a hand over his head and opened and closed his mouth, while Mrs. Yamano seemed relatively relaxed. "They grow up so fast these days, don't they?" she chirped.

* * *

The morning star plowed through the chest of the Dynasty Droid hard enough to send the core processor flying into the face of another nearby attacker. "'2600 psi' my ass!" Dais sneered.

"See what you can do when properly motivated?" Sehkmet teased. Dynasty Droids seemed quite surprised when their nice shiny new sophisticated bodies turned into metal paste after just a single cut from Sehkmet's Snake Fang Swords. He swung forward and laid the blades against the ground, sending forth a reddish fog into the attacking forces. Soldiers that charged through staggered to a halt and convulsed violently when the mist ate away at their insides.

Sehk stood up and sniffed the air then frowned. "Hrm…yeah, I'm sorry but burning circuitry doesn't smell too good," he muttered and shook his head.

"Anubis! You crazy son of a bitch! These guys are using _bullets_ now, and you STILL insist on not wearing a helmet!?" Cale squawked angrily. Anubis lashed his chain about undeterred, and somehow managed to catch incoming projectiles inside the links. Cale's jaw dropped in surprise when Anubis whipped the chain just so that it sent the bullets flying back, striking those who'd shot them. The mechanical bodies toppled back, riddled with bullet holes.

"I'm sorry, what were you saying? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me brutally slaughtering our enemies," Anubis said camly. Cale stared at him before letting out a sigh.

"So, I'm guessing with Dygra and Pharaohn gone, Talpa couldn't make anymore Gargoyle Soldiers? That's good. I like having the skies to myself," Rowen taunted from where he pelted the invaders with arrows on high. The arrows stuck into the chest plates harmlessly.

"What was _that_ supposed to do?" a soldier growled disdainfully. A second after, the arrows exploded and tore the chest armor wide open, cracking the core processors.

"Blow you to bits," Rowen said calmly but rubbed his eyelids. "Man…Naz was right about having to conserve energy…Rowen to Cye, how's things going on down there at your end?"

"_Well, when I started fighting all those years ago, I never imagined I'd be fighting legions of armored shells. Now? I never imagined I'd be fighting legions of armored robots. As for Tanya? Well, you know her; finding new, creative ways to a man's heart besides the stomach."_

"We'll make these fancy new tin cans wish they stayed regular tin cans!"

A Dynasty Droid grunted in protest when Kento struck its elbow and knee joints hard enough to break them in half until it sagged to the ground like a rag doll. "Not so tough now, eh buddy? Whatcha gonna do? Kneecap me? Oh wait, you can't, because you don't have a _mouth_!" Kento taunted while leaning over the floundering soldier.

"Always a fan of the simplest approach, hmm?" Sage teased from where he dispatched Dynasty Droids with a variety of complex maneuvers.

"Well, it's like Anubis says: 'shame is worse than death', and these guys don't really die."

Ryo fought without company in a different corner of the city, employing various traditional and Rait'chian techniques against his foes. "You seem quite fond of that Outworlder fighting style." Ryo raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder and spotted a single Dynasty Droid wearing more elaborate armor than the rank-and-files. Gold accents adorned the green armor.

"Okay, seriously, they're _Thangiens_. Will you guys _please_ get it straight? …And who the heck are you supposed to be anyway?"

"I am Khamnes. I am perfection. I am the future of the Dynasty, and your demise. I have never had the pleasure of facing a Ronin Leader. I am pleased to be able to face you now as a worthy warrior than when you were but a stripling opposing the Master."

"…Ooookaaay…so, what? The Brothers on vacation or something?" Ryo made a face and readied his swords at the same time Khamnes drew his spear.

"I am the chosen of Lord Tchnetun, and soon I shall replace those fools Duratir and Duratin as Talpa's new right hand!" Khamnes attacked first, and Ryo easily parried, but Khamnes parried his own attacks with similar ease. As they exchanged blows, Ryo felt an eerie sense of familiarity with some of the techniques Khamnes used. They seemed to be evenly matched.

Ryo gasped when he saw the 'charging the blade' and jumped back seconds before Khamnes brought his spear down into the pavement. The ground split from the force, and the leading edge of the crack stopped just between Ryo's feet. Ryo glanced from the crack to Khamnes.

"Why do you hesitate to cross swords with me, Wildfire? Could it be that you have finally met your superior in combat? Lord Tchnetun has granted me knowledge of all the fighting styles of the Ronin Warriors. You are mighty indeed against our weaker minions, but how will you fare against the techniques of your own friends and yourself?"

Now Ryo realized what had seemed so familiar. Khamnes had used moves from Kento, Cye, even Tanya, and he had even managed to execute a Cresta's Wheel without proper training. Ryo frowned and surveyed the area. He'd destroyed the rest of the nearby troops earlier, so only Khamnes remained an opponent. Ryo glanced at Khamnes again then narrowed his eyes. The red energy rings formed above him and swept down then up, vanishing along with Ryo.

"Flee all you want, Ryo of the Wildfire. Today, a reckoning dawns upon all Ronin Warriors!"

* * *

Kiasha paced alongside the lip of the deep moat separating the wall from the ground. She paused and glanced over her shoulder at her cubs. Play had exhausted them too much to worry about the menace that had the rest of the zoo's residents in hysterics. Magma nestled comfortably between his sisters, and Whisker curled up on her side. Snow yawned briefly and twitched her ears. Kiasha looked up the sheer concrete wall and lashed her tail from side to side.

"Boss! Come quick!" a zookeeper leaned inside the security post booth. "Kiasha's trying to escape, and I think she's gonna do it!" The guard turned the switch on his monitor and called up the white tiger pen. Sure enough, the female Bengal had managed to leap onto the wall and clung to it by her claws. She slid down a few inches, but would haul herself back up twice as much.

"What on Earth has gotten into them all…" the guard muttered and grabbed a tranquilizer gun, thumbing a dart into the chamber. "Back away folks, I'll handle this," the guard assured and waved at visitors who had crowded around the fence to watch. Kiasha noticed movement out the corner of her eye and recognized all too well the muzzle of a gun. The guard took aim and prepared to squeeze the trigger. Kiasha's grip faltered and she slid down the wall some. The dart flew out of the barrel and sped towards her rump.

Kiasha bunched up her hind legs and poured all her strength into a single bound, leaping out of the way of the dart and catching hold of the top rail of the fence. People screamed in horror, though one nearby child reached forward and patted the white fur before her parents seized her and dragged her away. The guard tried to reload quickly, but Kiasha hauled her hind paws up onto the rail and sprang down onto the ground. Visitors panicked and fled, but the tigress ignored them and bounded for the exit. The guard shot again, but missed.

The animals in the enclosures she passed on her way to the city streets continued shrieking from the threat they sensed. For the sake of her cubs, she would find that threat…and kill it.

* * *

"_Listen up everyone! Watch out for a Dynasty Droid in green armor. He calls himself Khamnes, and he's touting himself as some new general. He's somehow able to copy our own moves; He almost used a Cresta's Wheel on me!"_

"You allright?" Sage asked into his wrist-com. Kento leaned over to watch the screen.

"_Yeah. Nothing got broken, but avoid him for now. We need to make sure the people in the city are safe first, then we can take care of this guy. If things look dicey, call the WILDCAT."_

"A bot that can copy our own moves? Man, what'll they think of next these days," Kento muttered and he and Sage ran down the street to search for other areas under attack. They paused and hid themselves in an alley when they spotted hundreds of Dynasty Droids corralling civilians into chariots and cage wagons. "Aw man! Look, they're harvesting people again! Grrr…we can't let them get away with it this time!"

"Yeah, but there's so many, if we try to intervene, something might go wrong…" Sage muttered and surveyed the enemy forces. Kento looked about and scratched his head.

"Hey, we can call WILDCAT."

"…I am _not_ saying that phrase," Sage growled and folded his arms over his chest.

"C'mooon," Kento teased and poked him in the shoulder plate.

"Then _you_ say it."

"No, because I wanna hear _you_ say it." Sage scowled in exasperation. "Fine, Mr. Courteous; we'll settle it the gentleman's way!" Kento sniffed and raised a fist. Sage raised his own fist and held it close. The both of them silently counted to three. Kento rather uncharacteristically chose paper, and Sage made the unfortunate decision of choosing rock. Sage let out a heavy sigh and hung his shoulders, while Kento jabbed him with his elbow. "Saaay iiiit."

Sage huffed in frustration and raised his wrist-com, toggling audio link. He cupped his hands to his mouth and tilted his head up. "WILDCAT TO THE RESCUE! WILDCAT TO THE RESCUE!" he yelled, using the specified summoning command Naz had programmed into the automaton. The two of them looked back out into the street to make sure the enemy hadn't noticed. Then they glanced down the adjacent streets. "Yeah, there's no way it'll get here that fast-," Sage began but paused when he heard a very faint, distant clanking.

People on the sidewalks of streets unaffected by the Dynasty attack staggered from the shock sent out from something passing by unbelievably fast. So fast in fact, the air before it seemed to warp and bend and they only heard rapid clanking and saw a billowing dust trail. Kento and Sage watched in surprise as WILDCAT slowed its pace. It walked up to them.

Sage blinked and looked down when he noticed Kento hold out his hand, outstretched with palm up. "I made no such bet!" Sage squawked in protest.

"Pfft…cheap-ass…" Kento grumbled and held a fist to his mouth and cleared his throat. "Um, WILDCAT? Bad guys," Kento said and pointed at the Dynasty kidnappers. WILDCAT turned its head in that direction slowly then began walking out into the open.

"What is this? Wildfire's pet approaches!" a Dynasty Droid guffawed as the WILDCAT approached. WILDCAT only superficially resembled a tiger. It did not swish its tail nor twitch its ears, and it walked very mechanically with the limbs moving directly forward.

"Perhaps he has fitted it with armor as a means to challenge us. Very well, let us test how many lives _this_ cat has left!" The soldiers turned their attention away from the civilians they'd captured and pointed their arm guns at the WILDCAT. WILDCAT scanned all hostile enemies and analyzed them according to the data programmed into it by Naz Dassyr. Its' HUD separated hostiles from friendly targets and marked the hostiles appropriately. Kento and Sage watched anxiously as the Dynasty Droids opened fire and pelted WILDCAT with bullets.

The projectiles pinged off the dererium shell harmlessly, and the resulting din masked the whispering of compartments hinging open along the shoulders, sides, and back. The segmented tail arched up and the tip pointed forward. Heavy metal spurs plunged down into the pavement, similar to those of a Pegasi preparing to fire its horn cannon.

The captured civilians found themselves treated to a spectacular display of light and sound as WILDCAT unleashed its arsenal. The tail beam blasted holes through soldiers, vaporizing the core processors with surgical precision. Brilliant green energy spheres pelted soldiers that tried charging forward, and small rotating cannons mowed down those attacking from the sides. The wide launcher mounted on the back fired spinning energy discs that cut through the reinforced armor of the Dynasty Droids with ease. In a matter of seconds, not a single enemy remained moving, and not a single singe, crater, or broken window marred the surrounding buildings.

Sage let out a low whistle, thoroughly impressed. WILDCAT retracted its weaponry and walked back over to the two Ronin. "Take WILDCAT and help out the others. I'll stay here and help these people," Sage said. Kento nodded and ran down the street with WILDCAT following close behind. Sage set to cutting open the cages and releasing the victims from their bindings.

* * *

"Talk about out of the Wildfire and into the frying pan!" Ryo moaned when he found himself ambushed by a large contingent of Dynasty Droids. He made good use of his training and deflected bullets with his swords, but the enemy began closing in. "Let's see how fireproof you guys are!" Ryo plunged his swords into the ground and crouched. A flaming shell formed around him, melting incoming bullets. Then the shell exploded outward, catching nearby soldiers unawares and reducing their inner parts to slag. One of the soldiers that had escaped the attack stabbed at Ryo from behind with its stun spear, and Ryo collapsed onto his knees. Remaining soldiers closed in with arm guns raised. Ryo called down his face mask and tensed.

"AI AI AI EEEOOOHHH!" a familiar voice hollered, and Ryo recoiled when missiles struck some of his enemies squarely. He looked up and saw White Wind wheeling about overhead.

"YULIE! What the hell are you doing here!? This is no time for amateur heroics!" Ryo yelled and stood up when his attackers became occupied with the Pegasi and his rider.

"Who says we're being amateur about anything?" Yulie called back and held on tight as White Wind banked to avoid gunfire.

"These guys were specifically designed to counter the Pegasi!" Ryo argued while he took out nearby soldiers. White Wind remained undeterred and sliced off limbs with his eye beams.

"Well, they're doing a pretty crummy job of it." Ryo watched intrigued as the Pegasi colt soared through the air. "The Dynasty just assumes Pegasi are mindless robots, but they're not. They have their own rhyme and rhythm." Just then, White Wind tucked his wings in and swung his legs forward in a spin. He swept past Dynasty Droids and used his wing blades to cut them to pieces before swooping back up and leveling out. "Can you please not do that! You're gonna make me throw up!" Yulie complained, looking queasy. White Wind chirped apologetically.

* * *

"Go on, get out of here!" Sage yelled at the last liberated civilian, who fled down the feet as fast as humanly possible. Sage scanned the broken cages and wagons to make sure he'd forgotten no one. Satisfied, he turned to leave but paused when he heard the clank of metal.

"You may have thwarted us today, but in the end, all souls gravitate towards the Dynasty," a green-and-gold armored Dynasty Droid gloated. Sage raised an eyebrow and drew his sword.

"Let me guess, you're Khamnes?"

"Indeed. I see that my renown is spreading amongst the Ronin Warriors."

"It's hardly because of your combat prowess. Copying the fighting styles of others, pathetic! Ryo said you knew some Rait'chian moves. Well, there's over a thousand of them, and I'm fairly certain I know way more than you."

"Perhaps, but unlike a pathetic mortal mind, I retain all of the knowledge imparted unto me. I never forget a technique, but you might. Tell me then, does this look familiar to you?" Khamnes raised his spear and held it pointing downwards infront of him. Sage realized too late the technique and tried to bring his arms up in time to shield his face. "PERICING RADIANCE!"

The tip of the spear erupted with light, burning Sage's eyes and sending him staggering. Sage cried out and tried to open his eyes to get a fix on his enemy, but colored speckles obscured his vision. Khamnes strode over to the fallen Ronin confidently. "I would have liked to claim Wildfire as my first kill, but I suppose you will suffice. Soon, all will remember the true might of the Dynasty!" Khamnes proclaimed. Other Dynasty Droids arrived and gathered around to witness their leader dispatch Sage of Halo. Khamnes aimed his spear at Sage's neck…

Something rather large and heavy plowed into him from the side, and powerful jaws clamped around the elbow joint of the arm that held the spear, crushing the servos. Khamnes growled in protest and tried to push the white tiger away by beating at its face with his fist. The tiger released its grasp and sprang away to tackle another soldier, crushing it under its weight. It leaned down and tore the faceplate clean off with its teeth.

Sage blinked repeatedly, surprised to hear angry growls. The spots still plagued his vision, but he caught glimpses of black-striped white fur. Apparently Whiteblaze had decided to join the fray, not wishing to relinquish his duties to a robot. Sage used his sword as a crutch to stand and waited for his vision to return. Sure enough, a large white tiger took down the vaunted Dynasty Droids as easily as prey in the wild. Some of the soldiers tried to open fire with their arm guns, but the tiger sprang away in time. It caught one from behind and bore it down to the ground then bit into the neck. The soldier squirmed violently and convulsed before falling still.

The other soldiers fell to the sharp claws and crushing bite until only Khamnes remained. The tiger bounded towards him and pounced, bringing its full weight to bear against the Dynasty general. Khamnes caught it by the chest fur with his remaining arm and held it above him with shocking strength. The tiger swiped at his face with its forepaws and scrabbled at his arm with its hind paws. Khamnes let out a smug snort, and Sage heard the click of the arm gun.

Bullets tore through the chest and exited out the back between the shoulders, spattering the white fur with red. **"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOO!"** Sage shrieked at the sight. Khamnes tossed the tiger's body to the ground roughly.

"How foolish of you, beast; to think that _you_ could oppose the might of the Dynasty…" Khamnes sniffed and turned to face Sage. His body jerked when Sage dug the edge of his blade between the gun shoulder and the chest, all the way down until it touched the core processor. "B-b-but, I-I am su-supposed to be p-perfect!" Khamnes sputtered feebly.

"Well, now you're a perfect pile of garbage," Sage hissed and pushed down on the blade, cracking the core. Khamnes' spirit fled into the sky and his broken husk collapsed to the ground. "Oh noo…Oh noo," Sage moaned and ran to kneel beside the fallen tiger. "Ryo's going to freak…wait…this…this isn't Whiteblaze…" Sage frowned when he saw light blue eyes. "Oh no!" Rings of green light formed above him and swept down, and he vanished.

Kiasha lay on her side, her body shuddering as blood soaked through her fur. Her tongue twitched over her teeth and her tail hung limp. Just as her vision started to fade, the rings reappeared and deposited two people: the armored man and a woman with long black hair.

"What's going on-oh goodness!" Kayura gasped when she saw the fallen white tiger. She reached out and placed a hand on the shoulder and set the Staff along the ground beside her.

"Her name's Kiasha. Yulie told me about her one time. She's this tiger Whiteblaze has been visiting at the local zoo. Please tell me you can do something! She saved my life; I'd be dead if she hadn't intervened. Her injuries are too severe for my skill alone. Maybe if we-" Sage began.

"SAGE! SHE'S ALREADY DEAD!" Kayura burst out in tears. Sure enough, no part of Kiasha's body moved. "Her spirit's _clinging_ by the barest of threads just for the sake of communicating with us! Ohh…she very much would like to live, she really would…She's seen how we fight, and she wishes to aid us, but there just isn't anything I can do! Her body is broken beyond all hope of repair! I would have to find a vessel to house her spirit somehow, but I've-" Kayura wiped tears from her eyes and paused when she spotted something several blocks away.

While the other Ronin had focused on driving away the last of the Dynasty Droids, WILDCAT had come to a stop with no one nearby to give orders and stood idly. Kayura stared past Sage and saw the tiger-shaped automaton. She ran her tongue over her lips then took a deep breath. "WILDCAT, come here," she said sternly.

*_Voice print recognized: Lady. Kayura_.* Sage turned to the side and scooted away as WILDCAT lumbered over and came to a stop close to Kayura. Kayura picked up the Staff and clenched Kiasha's fur between her fingers. She began chanting, and the rings began clanging. Sage watched in awe as each individual strand of fur began glowing. Kiasha's eyes relayed one last image to her mind: that of a large gleaming four-legged form.

Kayura pulled up and turned her hand over, palm up with fingers splayed. Strands of glowing fur peeled away and darted up into her palm. Kiasha's body began disintegrating into light, and bit by bit strands of light coalesced into a glowing white sphere in Kayura's palm. "Kayura…what…what are you doing?" Sage asked, bewildered.

"I honestly have no idea!" Kayura sputtered as the last of Kiasha's body vanished. Kayura turned to the WILDCAT unit and set the Staff on the ground again. She reached out with her free hand and inserted her fingers through the mouth, grasping the lower jaw. She tugged down, trying to pull the mouth open. WILDCAT obliged and hinged its jaw open all the way. Kayura placed the sphere into WILDCAT's maw and cupped the chin in her hand then pushed up, clamping the jaws shut over the sphere. She scooted back and waited anxiously.

WILDCAT began twitching and collapsed onto its stomach. All four limbs sprawled to the sides and the tail hung limp. Sage and Kayura watched with both horror and apprehension as WILDCAT began twitching violently, and they heard the sounds of circuits whirring in protest. The glowing blue eyes went dark and WILDCAT ceased moving. Kayura sighed in dismay.

The eyes flickered back to life, only this time they glowed white. Static muddled the HUD before it clarified, and vision locked upon the two people kneeling nearby. One heavy paw braced against the ground, followed by another. WILDCAT rose to all fours slowly, servos creaking and hydraulics hissing. The head turned from side to side, and the tail began swishing.

I LIVE! Kayura heard a shrill voice cry in her thoughts just as WILDCAT lunged forward and pressed its head against her chest, knocking her onto her back.

"Ohhh goodness!" Kayura gasped and stroked the segmented neck.

"How-what?" Sage stammered in awe.

"I remembered Bak saying the WILDCAT was built using the same technology that created the Pegasi, and that Pegasi are living spirits housed in bodies of metal. She can never again be a creature of flesh and blood, but she can still fight, and she is very much a fighter…and a hugger! Ooh boy!" Kayura giggled as WILDCAT nuzzled her fiercely. Sage chuckled cheerfully.

* * *

"Ryo!" Ryo paused on his way to the residential hall and looked over his shoulder to see Naz approach. "I heard about what happened! My condolences to your companion!"

"Thanks. Sage, Australa, and Yulie went to go pick up her cubs. It wouldn't be right to just leave them alone without their mother, or to get separated from each other. They'll be taken to Thanged to stay at Mazzan. At least there they can stay together and be well cared for."

"While my enthusiasm at today's victory is tempered by today's tragedy, there is one bit of good news. It would seem in her final battle, your friend's mate uncovered a glaring weakness in the Dynasty Droid design," Naz began and held up a computer tablet for Ryo to see. "This innocuous relay here just below the neck? It's chiefly responsible for transmitting commands throughout the upper body. Its' position makes it impossible to sever through direct decapitation, but a crushing blow-such as the one caused by the _fenda's_ bite-would immobilize it."

"Huh…that'll be good to know for the future. Knowing Talpa, I doubt today will change his mind about anything. Thanks for the info, and for everything else," Ryo nodded. Naz made a claw salute and walked back to the comm. room. Ryo glanced to the side when he saw green armor plates. "Oh! Hey, you're back already! So, how'd things go with the cubs-" Ryo paused and did a double take when he saw the condition of Sage's face.

Angry red, shallow scrapes marred his cheeks and forehead, and a deep bloody scratch went down his nose. "…That orange one's a biter," he said stiffly. Ryo stared at him a few moments.

"Yeah…I see that…" The two looked out into the main cavern where Whiteblaze sat on the floor tile. His ears twitched and his tail curled as WILDCAT walked towards him.

"Do you think he'll know it's her?" Sage whispered and patted his face with a Richtho leaf.

"Animals have a way of knowing things humans usually don't. We'll just have to see."

Instead of growling angrily, Whiteblaze looked curious about the WILDCAT unit. His ears flattened then rose and his brow furrowed. WILDCAT's gait had a more relaxed pace to it, and the tail lashed from side to side instead of swaying loosely. It came to a stop a foot away and sat its hind legs down and curled the tail about its paws. Whiteblaze stood up and took a step towards the automaton. The dererium ears twitched ever so slightly and a faint sound like a metallic purr escaped the rigid mouth. Whiteblaze extended his head forward and WILDCAT did the same, and the two rubbed their necks together, nuzzling each other tenderly.

"Will you look at that…" Ryo whispered.

"Her spirit may remain here, but can this really be called life?" Sage frowned.

"I dunno, Sage. Life…life's what you make of it…"

* * *

"A thousand-thousand pardons, Master Talpa!" Lord Tchnetun blubbered and prostrated himself before the throne. "Once Khamnes' spirit is retrieved, he shall be punished severely!"

"No." Lord Tchnetun looked up and cringed. "Let his spirit languish in the Void for a time. If he would presume himself to lead armies, he must learn the lesson expected of all leaders: to know when and when not to engage in direct combat. _That_ is what _underlings_ are for. _That_ is why the Brothers have survived for so long." Far away down the throne room, Duratir and Duratin listened. Their faceplates seemed to tilt up in somewhat of a smirk.

"O-O-Of course, your eminence! I will continue perfecting my designs! I grossly underestimated the ingenuity of the Ronin Warriors and their Outworlder allies! I will not stop until I craft an army worthy of the Dynasty!"

"Do that. For now, your current design will suffice. The Ronin believe themselves triumphant against a few thousand constructs. We shall see how they fare against all my vast armies."

"And…what of the new Outworlders hiding in the Heavens?" Lord Tchnetun asked timidly.

"Their existence is a matter of no concern. I will send _her_ to deal with them…"


	26. Overload

Overload

By Mardrena

"So what are we doing here again?" Cale grumbled from where he sat in one of the Wall Boulder's crags. He had one elbow braced against his thigh and his palm against his cheek.

"Dunno. Something about needing samples of our 'DNA' or some such for future medical emergencies," Dais shrugged from where he sat on a lower crag with his arms across his lap.

"IT WENT RIGHT THROUGH MY ARM!" The two of them looked up when they heard Sehkmet scream from the infirmary. "IT WENT RIGHT THROUGH MY ARM!...DON'T TELL _ME_ TO CALM DOWN! YOU'RE NOT THE ONE BLEEDING ALL OVER THE BLASTED FLOOR!" Cale and Dais exchanged worried glances.

"…I just remembered; I have something important I have to do on Thanged!" Dais hopped onto the floor and took off running.

"Yeah! Me too! Something important! On Thanged!" Cale stuttered and jogged after him.

Heavy footsteps approached the Wall Boulder a few seconds later. Koi Udsarrin carried Cale and Dais high off the floor and held them each by an arm. He set them atop the Wall Boulder and leaned close. "Koi. Says. Warlords. Stay. Here," Koi said firmly then turned around.

"Hey, we're not Warlords anymore, you ingra-" Cale began.

"WHAT KIND OF SICK, DEMENTED TORTURER _ARE_ YOU?!...HOW'S A SHOT SUPPOSED TO MAKE ME FEEL BETTER!? I-" Cale and Dais went rigid and pale as sheets with the sudden cessation of screaming and moved to hop off the boulder again. Koi leaned close and hummed in warning, reminding them that he kept careful watch.

* * *

"Gauraax Ryo! Gauraax Ryo!" The voice called the second he stepped off the cable lift.

"uuugh…" Ryo drooped his shoulders and head then straightened up and turned around. "Stop, stop stop stop. Look, Miz, right?" Ryo remembered that Bau had the darker blue beard and Naz had a bolder red than Rgn, who had a slender body. He remembered Koi as the big strong one and Tar as the elderly one. He had trouble remembering the Apprentices by name and had to go by beard color for them. He remembered Ita being the only female, and Miz being the only Common, so he eyed the littlest Thunthen with a weary expression. "Please, just-call me Ryo, okay? Between you people and the Thangiens, I'm gonna end up with fifty-some-odd names, and everyone always pronounces it differently," Ryo grumbled and turned around and walked away, waving his hands. "Ray-oh, Ree-oh, Rai-oh: it gets a little old…"

Miz stood there with his hands raised and mouth hanging open. His gaze flicked from side to side and he slowly closed his hands and rubbed his thumbs against his fingertips. He furrowed his brow and shrugged. "Well…it _is_ meant as a gesture of respect…" he shook his head and jogged after Ryo, remembering what he needed to discuss. Ironically, the least member of Bak's crew had found himself a position as unofficial liaison between Thunthen and Humans, since they felt more comfortable talking to him than the intimidating-looking Nobles. "We've been having 'complications' concerning the program you uploaded into the WILDCAT unit." Miz spoke as he caught up to Ryo and walked alongside the Ronin Leader, waving his hands slightly.

"We uploaded a _soul_," Ryo snorted and threw him a sideways glance.

"Well whatever you choose to call it! The point is-well-you should see for yourself," Miz gestured to the opposite side of the main cavern. Ryo paused when he saw what Miz indicated.

The WILDCAT automaton-who now housed the spirit of Kiasha- reclined near the wall and gnawed at a haunch of meat Whiteblaze had provided her. No matter which corner she tried fitting into the metal jaws she merely succeeded in reducing the meat into a pulpy, bloody pink mess. Whiteblaze himself sat close by and watched while his former mate chewed undeterred.

"Ahh…" Ryo let out a whining croak from the back of his mouth and grimaced.

"She's been doing this all morning, and every time someone tries to take it from her, she threatens to _maul_ them," Miz added and gestured to WILDCAT again. Apparently the four Apprentices took turns daring each other to try and retrieve the pulverized haunch. Sul tried creeping forward and crouched low, reaching out to pinch the meat. WILDCAT promptly raised her tail blaster like an alarmed scorpion and kept it trained on Sul until he backed away a good distance. Once satisfied, she went back to trying to stuff meat down a nonexistent throat.

"Danae said they designed the Pegasi so they could eat real food to keep them from going nuts. Couldn't you do something similar?" Ryo suggested and scratched his head.

"Hrm…I suppose we could install an energy converter…she'd have to be taken offline briefly," Miz thumbed his short beard and shrugged.

"Get it done. I'll have Kayura and Michelle help," Ryo nodded. The two looked back when they heard metallic squeaking sounds. WILDCAT tried to reach her rump with her head, but the body could not bend around that much. Whiteblaze moved around and began licking the surface of the metal WILDCAT had been trying to reach. "Poor girl. She still remembers an itch even though she can't actually feel it. It's a good thing Whiteblaze is helping her adjust. Tigers in the wild usually aren't this devoted," Ryo muttered softly.

"So, it's true? You _did_ succeed in transplanting the slain mate's consciousness into the WILDCAT? How did you accomplish such a feat out in the field?" Miz asked.

"Magic," Ryo replied simply and shrugged.

"Oh. Don't go using that word around Tar or Naz," Miz winced.

"Why? They diehard skeptics?" Ryo chuckled.

"Well, let's just say that Nobles like them are the reason we Thunthen don't have ears as Humans do," Miz answered and cocked his head. "…What's that sound coming from her?"

"She's purring."

"Yes, but-_how_? You need an audio processor to produce sound and…well…we never installed one! Somehow…she created a bypass using the original systems…"

"Where there's a will," Ryo began.

"There's a way," Miz said simultaneously. Ryo smiled at the human-sized Thunthen.

* * *

"At least they agreed to bring Shannon's dad down here. I'd rather have _him_ draw blood from me than Scary Dragon Lady," Kento commented from his seat at the conference table. He, Anubis, Rowen, Cye, and Tanya sat at their respective places. Anubis broke out laughing suddenly and slumped forward so far his cheek rest against his place tile. "What's with you?"

"It's just-" Anubis chortled then tried to clear his throat. "I overheard Miz once refer to you as 'Scary Human Lady'," he said and nodded in Tanya's direction.

"What!? Oh _that_ does it! MIZ! MIZ! Where do you people keep their balls so I can kick yours?" Tanya yelled on her way into the main cavern.

"Aiiieee!" they heard a faint squeal of dismay. Ryo entered the conference room a second after, looking over his shoulder for a moment before looking at the others.

"So…what's everyone up to?" he asked casually.

"Just waiting around for them to finish cleaning up the infirmary after Sehkmet's little…'accident'," Anubis replied with a faint smirk.

"Yeah, the Thunthen may be super-intelligent dinosaurs, but they don't really know a delicate way of tapping superficial veins," Rowen added.

"Bak's worried Mal Daggur might try something similar to the attack on Bainshaebo, so he wants to cover all the bases," Cye brought up.

"Isn't that how it always goes? With good guys and bad guys? The good guys start off struggling, then they get strong enough to defeat the bad guys. Then the bad guys whip out something even nastier, so the good guys gotta work even harder. Then the bad guys unleash something even worse," Kento rambled, drawing curious glances from the others. Rowen glanced at Cye when he noticed movement and saw Cye pull something out from under the table. He began opening the candy bar wrapper slowly, as if peeling a banana. "The bad guys just can't be content to be sucky, can they? They gotta keep making themselves stronger and stronger and it just never works out cuz then that motivates the good guys to-"

Cye, who sat a spot away from Kento, reached over and all but shoved the candy bar into his friend's mouth. Kento let out a gurgling cry of protest at first but then hummed and reached up to grab the wrapper. He began chewing on the candy bar contentedly.

* * *

Mia pulled the keys out of the ignition as soon as she parked and stepped out of the car, not even pausing to gather her things. "Bak? Um…what are you doing outside like this?" she asked, slightly perturbed. The Thunthen Noble stood off to the side of the driveway with his muzzle tilted up and his eyes on the sky. "It's not that I'm upset or anything…it's just, well…I've got Whiteblaze sleeping inside, Pegasus grazing in the back yard, and Raurgoth treating the lake like it's his personal bathtub…people might get suspicious about the company I keep…" Bak Thraplek did not ignore her, but rather he looked troubled. Mia frowned sympathetically and walked over to him. "You…you look as if you're waiting for something…"

"Ander called it a 'carrier pigeon'…" Bak said and furrowed his dark blue-gray eyebrows. Mia nodded and bit her lip. She felt compelled to wait with him and stared up at the clouds too.

"…If…if you don't mind me asking…why is Mal Daggur so bent on conquering other worlds? What's so bad about your home?"

"Err…well, as I believe Ryo would say: it sucks. We're the furthest away from either sun, and we get the least amount of light. The surface of Planet Thunthen is cold and rocky, and the only warmth to be had comes from volcanoes that erupt constantly. All of our cities are built underground, and crops consist of fungus and subterranean beasts. It is not intolerable, and to our credit, it has strengthened us, but we have always yearned for greener pastures since we set across the stars… It is such a shame: in its original configuration, the _Vyerrdeklagn_ could've helped our world become as beautiful as yours.

"Wars are never really started over religious conviction, or because one faction dislikes the other; they're started because one faction covets what the other has. War, sadly, is not something unique to humanity. Ander often spoke of humans' hopes for contact with other worlds... Much like our namesakes, we 'dragon-men' seem to revel in plunder and destruction…"

"Bak, I really think you're selling your people short. Humanity isn't something defined by us necessarily, nor is it defined by appearance. In all honesty, I've seen more humanity from you and your crewmembers than I have from most humans," Mia commented. Bak smiled at her gratefully. Both of them looked up when they heard a distant electronic whirring.

"Ah, it's here," Bak reached up with and cupped his hands together. A small rounded cylinder hovered towards him and alighted in his palms. He pinched the cylinder on the sides with his claws and twisted knobs in opposite directions. The cylinder opened up and revealed a simple-looking LED screen marked with symbols. Mia stood up on her tiptoes and peered over Bak's thick arm. She couldn't make sense of the cuneiform-like scratches that comprised Highscript, but she felt intrigued nonetheless. Bak scowled and drew air through his nostrils.

"This is worse than I thought. Mal Daggur is attempting to move significant amounts of supplies to the surface in preparation for something. The Ronin Warriors must be informed!"

* * *

"Was there really no other option than to use _stone_ benches?" Sage complained from his seat at the conference table. The other Ronin sat in their respective spots. The Apprentices had crafted four quarter-circular benches out of granite and arranged them around the table. This would be their first session officially breaking in the new chamber.

"I dunno what you're fussing about. My armor-plated butt-cheeks feel just fine," Tanya smirked and rocked from side to side.

"It's one thing when you're wearing clothes, but this mesh chafes like nobody's business."

"Considering the effort the Thunthen went through to craft all this on our behalf, I would keep such remarks to yourself," Anubis growled softly from his seat left of Ryo.

"Look, I'm not trying to insult their craftsmanship, but some cushions would be nice..."

"Quit your whining. Back in my day you'd be lucky if you had a _boulder_ to use for a table," Sehkmet snorted. All conversation ceased when Bak entered. Tanya and Sehkmet leaned to the side as Bak reached over and set something in the middle of the central tile.

"I just received this from my contacts in the fleet," Bak tapped a button on the cylinder and a tiny lens projected a transparent image into the air, drawing awed gasps from some of the Ronin. "Troopships will be coming in tonight to unload an unknown cargo into these locations."

"Allright then, we'll stakeout both sites and hit 'em hard!" Rowen said from Ryo's right.

"No! You cannot!" Bak exclaimed, drawing concerned glances. "If you staged an ambush, Mal Daggur would know details were leaked, and that would jeopardize my informants in the chain of command. No, I have a better plan in mind. Sage came across me by chance while he was on patrol, alone," Bak nodded at Sage. "Only one of you should go out and act as if you stumbled across the incursion by chance. Give the appearance of being caught off-guard and sound distressed, while the rest will be on stand-by to engage the intruders when called for."

"That sounds good. There's two sites, right? We'll split up into groups of five and have two decoys get the Thunthen's attention. Any volunte-" Ryo blinked in surprise. The Elders had started to raise their hands, but paused, looking almost embarrassed when they saw Kento waving his arm up in the air energetically, looking very eager.

* * *

"This is Kento reporting in! I've got bad guys headed for the eastern pier. I think they're Commons. They look sorta like Miz-hey! Get back here you! Man! They're fast little dudes!" Kento shouted after the group of diminutive Thunthen. They sprang onto the wall of a warehouse and scampered up towards the roof. One of them carried what looked like a stout keg made of red plastic. "Where you think you're going?" Kento shot off his claw cable and snagged the Common carrying the keg by the lower rim of his shell. The Common yelped and slipped, falling to the ground to land on his shell. He scrambled to his feet as Kento approached.

"I've got you now-!" Kento had barely come within a foot of the frightened Common when the keg landed on his head, impaling itself on the horns curving up from his helmet. The Common used the distraction to catch up to his compatriots. "Grr-get off!" Kento grumbled and pushed up on the keg, dislodging it from the horns. A clear fluid spilled out and onto his armor, some of it dribbling under his helmet rim and onto his skin.

The four Commons had caught up with half a dozen more, and they ran alongside shipping containers and parked vehicles. They skidded to a stop when Ryo and Sage sprang down to block their path. The Commons panicked and bolted down a path between trucks. They squealed in fright when Rowen and Cye moved to intercept and followed the fleeing Commons to a darkened cul-de-sac at the end of the pier. Ryo and Sage caught up and they blocked the exit.

"They got nowhere to run; they've got to know they have no choice…" Cye muttered. Just then a bright light erupted from the darkness, and they heard a loud rumbling whine. They shielded their eyes from the brilliance and looked up in awe when they saw the trapezoidal bulk of a Thunthen troopship rising into the air. Rowen took aim, but Ryo grabbed his wrist.

"No, you might destroy the ship!"

"But, they're getting away!" Rowen protested. The troopship hovered high above the pier and the landing legs retracted into the four slots in the sides.

All of a sudden, an immense winged form tackled the ship. "No they're not," Ryo chirped.

The five Ronin re-convened on the edge of the dock overlooking the bay. "Tanya and the Elders downed another ship on their end, but they couldn't find any cargo of any sort. Whatever these guys were carrying, they already dropped it off but there's no telling where," Sage said.

"…'Downed'?" Ryo frowned and raised an eyebrow.

"Without injuring the crew, of course," Sage hastily added then fidgeted. "Seriously…"

"Hey Cye, can you hose me down? One of them dropped something on me," Kento asked.

"I'm not a bloody faucet! Besides, the bay's right there. Go dunk yourself!" Cye protested and pointed at the water. Kento blinked and looked to the side.

"But…it's occupied." The White Dragon sat with his back to the dock wall and held the downed troopship in his lap. He'd wrenched the vessel open with his claws and plucked a squealing Common from the cabin. Raurgoth pinched the tail between his fingers and lifted the Common up, dangling him over his maw. The little Common bawled pathetically.

"Troopships are like a box of chocolates," Rowen joked.

"At least the Commons don't have spikes," Sage muttered. Ryo frowned and looked over his shoulder. The Common whimpered and swatted at Raurgoth's tongue desperately.

"Raurgoth!" Ryo shouted. The White Dragon looked down at him. Ryo shook his head firmly. Raurgoth's thick brow wrinkled in dismay and his wing shoulders drooped. He settled instead for teasing the Common by dangling him from side to side. "We can send these guys to Thanged where they can remain under custody until this war's over."

"What are you talking about, Kento? Your armor looks fine," Sage commented. Kento glanced down and saw no traces of liquid. He didn't even feel any moisture on his head.

"Huh…guess it was just water then…"

* * *

"Incompetence! They were supposed to land outside the city and come in on foot. Instead they drew attention! If those fools hadn't been captured, I'd have shelled each and every one!" Mal Daggur roared from his command chair aboard his personal flagship, the _Nsenagvvik_.

"So, lemme get this straight," Lazro Cochran had one arm folded over his chest and waved his free hand near his head. "They delivered the payload safely, and you'd still kill them?"

"A painful death is the only mercy they would have from me," Mal Daggur snarled.

"Wow…and I thought Jackie was bad…"

"Never send a Common to do a Noble's job," a tall lanky Noble with blood-red beard and head crests and clad in red and brown padded armor entered the bridge. "I will lead a team back to the surface to secure the primary site. The Ronin Warriors will no doubt investigate."

"If you don't mind lil' ol' me asking, what'd you plan on doing with such a large payload?" Cochran asked and scratched his head. Mal Daggur's lips peeled back in a toothy grin.

"The Thangiens believe themselves to be clever. They've been ferrying small groups of riders to the Oldworld via the Pegasi's group teleport abilities. They would wait until such a time when they have amassed enough to challenge me. You've seen the destruction wrought by Pegasus when he was affected by the chemical. Imagine the chaos if entire _Ranks_ were infected."

"Actually, I'm imagining that it's a shame that dames are the only ones with mustaches," Cochran said with a smirk. The remark puzzled Mal Daggur, but he let it slide. "So once the Thangiens strike, you'd douse their mounts with the stuff and they'd go berserk? Not bad."

"A masterful plan. I must applaud you, esteemed Outworlder." All those on the bridge stopped what they were doing and looked to the entryway where they saw a petite human girl.

Long blue-black hair ran down her back, reaching almost to the back of her knees. Straight bangs hung above her mischievous-looking blue eyes. She looked to be a child no older than ten, but wore ornate white armor on her shins, forearms, and chest. Filmy white scarves hung down from her shoulders. Two short swords rest in scabbards on her back.

Mal Daggur raised a thick orange eyebrow and rose from his seat to face the human girl. "Who-might I ask- are you to approach me so boldly? And moreover…_how_?"

"I am simply an emissary of Master Talpa. I come on his behalf to seek audience with the mighty Outworlders who are sworn enemies of the Ronin Warriors."

"Ohhh…you must be Jenny's replacement then? She's alive and fine, by the way, thanks for asking…" Lazro spoke up and waved at the girl, who glared at him icily.

"_You_ are Lazro Cochran. You have much to answer for to the Master as a result of your failures…" she scowled, not at all interested about the fate of the former Demon Warrior.

"Now see! That's why you guys have such a high turnover rate; the whole 'threatening eternal torment' for something that was _clearly_ beyond my ability to control. That's why I like working for the Thunthen here: stress-free environment and no horrible-soul-sucking."

"Lazro Cochran is a guest aboard my ship. I will brook no threats to him or anyone else. Now, state your reason for this intrusion," Mal Daggur smote the deck with his tail club.

"The Master has observed you for some time. I personally witnessed your glorious triumph over the ten Ronin Warriors. I bring information you might find valuable; that members of your own kind have sided with the Ronin and provide them aid," the girl stated.

"If you refer to Bak Thraplek and his 'dissidents', I am well aware of their efforts to undermine my plans. They will be dealt with in due time," Mal Daggur snorted.

"Or they can be dealt with now. The Master would have an alliance so that we may crush our mutual enemies and claim this world. He offers gifts of power and immortality," the girl smiled.

Mal Daggur's lips peeled back over his teeth and he began chuckling. "Ohhh great, you got him laughing…" Lazro muttered and grimaced. Mal Daggur's laughter rose in volume until it echoed throughout the bridge. The girl pursed her lips and clasped her hands behind her back.

"I am somewhat confused as to what I could have said to invite an amused reaction…"

"'Power and immortality'? HAH! Look around you!" Mal Daggur gestured to the Nobles and Commons seated at their stations on the bridge. "_This_ is my 'power'! I AM MAL DAGGUR!" Mal Daggur thrashed his tail club against the deck again. "BUTCHER OF BANGUK! My name will be sung and reviled for the next _thousand_ generations! _That_ is _my_ 'immortality'.

"Only the weak seek alliances to mask their own faults, and your Master is _weak_! I will not sully my campaign with such _weakness_. Return to your 'Master'! Tell him I have 'power and immortality' to _spare_," Mal Daggur sneered and turned to walk back to his chair.

The girl closed her eyes and began giggling musically. "I apologize, dear Mal Daggur…I did not mean to convey that this was an _offer_ that could be refused." Mal Daggur turned sideways to look over his shoulder the same time the girl crouched and sprang, swords drawn.

The girl had nearly closed the distance when a blast of bright green light struck her in the side and sent her skidding across the deck, bumping into the wall and startling crewmembers out of their seats. The girl clamped a hand over the hole in her armor and gasped. She looked up and saw the Noble with the blood-red beard pointing a sidearm of some sort at her. Mal Daggur stepped away from his command chair and walked towards the fallen girl slowly.

He could not smell it, but he could see the fear in her eyes as her body shuddered at his approach. He knelt down beside her and reached out with one hand, cupping her chin in his palm and running the claws through her hair. He reached out with his other hand and stroked the side of her face with his index claw. "Your 'Master' is under the mistaken impression that this is a game, but this long since stopped being a game, and he long since stopped being a player. You go back to Ouagli and tell him this; I will have this world, or he will have _ashes_. His choice," Mal Daggur whispered, bringing his lips close to the girl's face and tapping her nose with a claw.

The girl remained sitting on the ground as Mal Daggur sauntered back to his chair and seated himself. She shakily retrieved her swords and sheathed them with one hand while keeping the other over her side. She rose to her feet and glowered at Mal Daggur before fading in a shower of delicate pink petals that stank of a fragrance foreign to the Thunthen.

"That was a most unusual human…" the red-bearded Noble commented.

"You should know by now, my friend; _none_ of Ouagli's servants can be considered 'human'…except, perhaps Cochran, and even _that's_ questionable," Mal Daggur snorted. Lazro sniffed and folded his arms indignantly. The red-bearded Noble glanced at him.

"You didn't notice then?" Mal Daggur raised an eyebrow and looked up. "She didn't bleed."

* * *

"None of the Commons we captured last night knew what they were carrying, so they were just the delivery guys. Anubis and Cye'll go with Danae to deliver the Commons to Thanged. The rest of us will go out and about in the city. Look for anything suspicious. Mal Daggur knows we suspect he's up to no good, so he'll probably send backup to protect whatever he's hiding." Following Ryo's orders, the rest of the younger Ronin set out into the city in civilian garb. The three remaining Elders had matters of their own to attend to on the other side of town.

Kento wove his way through pedestrian traffic down the sidewalk. He shrugged up the collar of his jacket to shield his cheeks from the nippy air. He doubted the Thunthen would move in broad daylight, but Toyama had plenty of places one could move without attracting attention. He spotted a pair of buildings, side by side that looked like newly-finished industrial complexes. He peeked down the gap between buildings and checked for any activity. He hissed to himself when he spotted the spiked green ball that formed the tail club of a Thunthen Noble.

Kento glanced at the civilians on the sidewalk and they seemed too absorbed in their own goings on to notice him duck down the alley towards a side entrance to one of the buildings. He shouldered his way through the door and ran for a staircase leading up. "ARMOR OF HARDROCK!" he called, summoning his full armor. His cry echoed through empty rooms and unpainted halls without attracting unwanted attention. He continued up the staircase until he reached the roof level and crept over to the edge. He crouched and peered at the ground below.

A lone green-bearded Noble wearing light green-and-black padded armor lounged atop a tarp-covered freezer unit. He idly flicked a nostril with a claw tip and thumped his tail club against the freezer. "Nobles eh? Mal Daggur's calling in the big guns now…" Kento leaned away from the roof's edge and raised his arm. "Ryo, I spotted some Nobles hanging out by a-"

Something like a heavy spiked mace struck his arm, shattering the wrist-com. Before Kento had a chance to react, clawed hands grabbed him by the shoulders and flung him towards the wall of the opposite building. Kento struck the wall only to bounce off and crash into the other, tumbling down along the wall until he landed on a metal cabinet.

The Noble seated on the freezer glanced at him slowly and hopped off, lashing his tail behind him. Kento hauled himself to his feet in time to see a second larger Noble clad in red-and-orange padded armor land next to his partner. The smaller Noble hissed something in the Thunthen language that sounded like a taunt. The taller Noble chuckled something else.

"I don't think you know who you're messing with. I held back using my power on your boss cuz Ryo ordered us to, but he didn't say anything about going easy on Mal Daggur's flunkies," Kento grinned and readied his bo. The two Nobles lunged, and Kento managed to dodge their initial strikes, but they proved to be deceptively agile. The smaller one sprang to the side and whirled around, striking him in the back with his tail club. The larger Noble slashed, striking Kento in the chest plate hard enough to dent the metal. The large Noble struck with his own tail club and sent Kento flying so hard he crashed the freezer with enough force to send it skidding all the way to the back of the alley until it crashed into a pile of other discarded equipment.

"Hure sek sil pentotimoic," the large Noble chuckled and swung his tail club again, striking Kento in the chest. The Ronin Warrior tried staggering to his feet, still clutching his bo, but the smaller Noble kicked him back into the indention in the crumpled metal. The two Nobles beat him relentlessly with their tail clubs, laughing and taunting him in their own rough language. Kento had to call down his face mask when the Nobles started striking his head. Neither of them paid any heed when dust rained down from the walls of the buildings on either side abruptly, despite the lack of wind. The walls shuddered slightly, and they did not notice.

The two of them paused when they heard a curious sound: a low growl, like that of an enraged animal. They frowned when the walls of the buildings shuddered once more, and dust rained like a curtain from the surface. Small bits of metal and masonry skipped about on the ground. They glanced back at the Ronin Warrior and saw him move his arms to the side and place his hands on the crumpled metal he sat upon. The metal seemed to buckle slightly, even though he only barely touched it. They heard another growl and realized it came from him.

More dust showered down from the surrounding walls and the two Nobles stepped away when the Ronin Warrior began rising to his feet. He tilted his face up to glare at them, and through the eyeholes in the face mask they saw angry blue eyes with white pupils. Just then the buildings on either side imploded, sagging down in a cascade of dust and debris. Out on the street, civilians fled away from the area. Inside the crumbling remains of the alley, the two Nobles turned tail and ran, barely staying ahead of the leading edge of the collapse.

The larger Noble cried out when something metallic and black wrapped around him and snatched him up into the billowing debris cloud. The smaller Noble scurried around the corner close to the sidewalk and ducked out of sight. Something flew out of the dust cloud and rolled along the pavement past the cowering Noble. It passed by close enough for him to recognize it as the shell of his partner. The surviving Noble tucked his tail close and whimpered pathetically as something huge stomped past, causing the ground to shudder as it walked. He cringed like the lowliest Peasant when he heard a low moaning roar that pressed against his eardrums.

* * *

"His last transmission came from this area!" Ryo shouted as he and Rowen ran through the streets. All of a sudden the two buildings they'd been headed for collapsed, sending debris clouds in all directions. People fled past the two Ronin, panicked not only by the sudden implosion, but the echoing roar coming from the debris cloud. Two long curved golden horns bobbed out from the top of the cloud. Ryo and Rowen backed away out of sight and watched awed and horrified as something huge emerged from the billowing dust.

"Is that what-is that _who_ I think it is?!" Rowen stammered when he saw a humanoid armored form tall enough to rival an office tower lumber past. The dust began to settle and sunlight shone off of silver and orange metal. Large hands with pointed fingertips grasped a long black shaft tipped with rounded metal caps. Eyes glowed white from behind the face mask.

"_Ryo! Are you seeing this_?" Tanya called in from her post.

"We're definitely seeing but not entirely believing…" Ryo replied as the towering figure walked a few steps down the emptied street. The metal-clad feet trampled over abandoned cars and the protruding shoulder plates dug into nearby buildings.

"Ryo, I don't think he knows what he's doing!" Rowen whispered.

"How could something like this have happened…" Ryo muttered in disbelief.

"_Ryo, remember last night's raid? Kento said he got splashed by something the Thunthen were carrying. Maybe that's what did this to him."_ Sage spoke up over the open channel.

"We gotta get him out of the city, but I don't think he'll listen to us…" Rowen worried.

"There might be a way…" Ryo raised his arm and twisted the insignia on his AnimArmor ring. "WHITE DRAGON!" The gigantic Kento grunted and looked over his shoulder to see a tower of white light spiraling up in the middle of the street. Swathes of light fanned out to either side, scraping the rooftops of intact buildings. The long spined tail thumped against the street, cracking the pavement. The scaled throat and belly shone silver in daylight.

"Raurgoth! Move Kento out of the city, but don't hurt him!" Raurgoth glanced from the towering humanoid that opposed him then down at Ryo. "I _mean_ it!" Ryo ordered sternly. Raurgoth's wing shoulders sagged slightly before he gathered himself and reared his long neck above the skyline. He raised his wings like colossal sails and held his arms wide.

Despite only measuring close to the dragon's shoulders in height, the transformed Kento remained undaunted by the challenge. He tightened his grip on his weapon and tensed to charge. Raurgoth pitched forward and let loose a grating hiss. He fanned his wings, but the black tips of the wing ribs scraped against buildings. Kento charged forward to grapple with the dragon, but Raurgoth had other ideas. He drew his tail under himself and managed to lift his bulk upon it high enough to lash out with his legs, striking Kento in the stomach and sending him staggering.

Before Kento had a chance to recover, the White Dragon grabbed him in an arm-lock and began dragging Kento away towards the suburbs. Once he cleared the taller buildings, he began flapping his wings. Sage arrived and met up with Rowen and Ryo and the three of them watched in awe as the Inferno Dragon rose into the air carrying the transformed Kento of Hardrock.

Without warning, Kento wrenched his right arm free of Raurgoth's grip and reached up, grabbing the lower edge of the right wing. Raurgoth hissed when felt the excruciating pinching and could not rise any higher. He began sagging down, flapping his left wing desperately to guide his landing. As soon as his feet touched the ground, Kento drove his right elbow into the dragon's gut, disorienting Raurgoth long enough to wrench free of his grip entirely. Raurgoth recovered and roared angrily, but Kento punched the side of the wedge-shaped head.

Raurgoth's tail lashed from side to side, slamming into the walls of taller buildings and shearing the roofs off of smaller ones. His wings caught power lines and tore them off their fastenings. Kento lunged forward and grabbed the dragon by the shoulders. Raurgoth tried biting at Kento's right shoulder, close to the neck, but his jaws could not open wide enough.

"RAURGOTH! I said don't hurt him!" Ryo scolded shrilly.

"Dragons aren't exactly known for diplomacy, Ryo," Rowen quipped. Gas began rippling around Raurgoth's mouth and his chest swelled to belch fire. Before the gas had a chance to ignite, Kento reached up and grabbed the dragon's throat, stifling the flame.

* * *

_"Bru! Buddy! What's going on down there? We lost contact with the sentries!"_

"The primary site's been compromised. It seems one of the Ronin Warriors came in contact with the chemical at some point," the red-and-brown armored Noble with the blood-red beard snarled a reply to Cochran via a communicator in his gauntlet.

_"…Really? ...Wow…that's…unexpected…"_

"I'll have to gather the remaining payload and relocate to the secondary site. Thankfully the Ronin Warriors seem to be preoccupied with their wayward friend."

"_Daggy's sending another squad down to help ya out some. Stay safe, alright?"_

"You!" The Noble raised an eyebrow and looked over his shoulder when he heard a familiar female voice. "I remember you. You are one of Mal Daggur's lackeys," the Dynasty girl said.

"_I_ am Bru Ranir. A longtime friend of Mal Daggur, _and_ his right hand," the blood-red bearded Noble proclaimed. The armored girl's eyes narrowed mischievously.

"Is. That. So? It would bring him much pain then, if I were to kill you…"

"_If_?" Bru Ranir raised both eyebrows in mock surprise. "My dear child, you don't seem very confident in your own abilities…" the Thunthen lieutenant lashed his tail.

"We shall see how confident _you_ are when I present your skin to the Master as a trophy!" the girl drew both swords, and they lengthened drastically in a spray of purplish smoke. Bru Ranir drew his sidearm, but the girl sent forth a pointed metal spur attached by a thin cable to the pommel of one sword. The spike knocked the phergon blaster out of the Thunthen's grip. Bru Ranir had other weapons at his disposal, of course, and the two lunged at each other while the giant Ronin Warrior and the Inferno Dragon wrestled in the distance.

The girl stabbed quickly, trying to pierce the thick neck, but Bru Ranir used his claws to parry. The girl seemed to think her advantage lay in her petite size and speed and felt confident enough to giggle in a pitch that sounded hideous to Thunthen ears. Cuts opened up in the red-and-brown padded armor, and soon cuts would open up in the Noble's flesh…

The girl failed to realize how prehensile Thunthen tails could be as Bru Ranir brought his tail club up at a low enough angle, it struck the girl in the face as if he had delivered an uppercut with his own fist. The girl wailed as the blow sent her careening off the building and arcing down towards the alley below. Bru Ranir stooped down to retrieve his sidearm and holstered it before sauntering over to the edge of the roof. He leapt down and landed on the pavement neatly then walked over to where the girl had landed in a dumpster. The impact had caused the lid to close over her, covering most of her body save for her legs. Bru Ranir lifted the lid slowly.

"My my my…_what_ are _you_ supposed to be?" he whispered in awe as he examined the unconscious form. "…I think I will let you live: If anything, to serve as a challenge to the Ronin Warriors. No doubt they will be just as surprised as I to see what you truly are…" with that, Bru Ranir lowered the lid back down and walked off into the shadows.

* * *

"So, why are we still working for this company when all of our needs are provided for us back at the new base?" Cale asked as he fastened bolts.

"The whole 'paying our debt to society' and all," Dais shrugged.

"Yeah that's true, I suppose…"

"Doesn't hurt to have some extra spending cash too," Sehkmet added.

"HEY!" The three Elders looked down at the supervisor waving his arms furiously. "What the hell are you three doing up that high without safety harnesses on?!"

"They get in the way," Sehkmet hollered back down.

"It's not a fashion statement! It's federal safety regulations!" the man squawked angrily.

"Why? Because you're afraid we'll fall off like…this?" Dais stood up and let his body fall backwards. The supervisor's eyes bugged out and he gasped in horror, but Dais caught the edge of the I-beam with his fingertips and swung himself forward then up until he landed back on the I-beam, crouching neatly on his toes. The supervisor clutched a hand to his chest.

"I'd fire the guys, but they're my best workers…" he wheezed and walked away.

"Poor guy. One of these days we're gonna give him a heart attack," Dais commented.

"Nah, probably a mental breakdown," Cale argued.

"You're both wrong; brain aneurism," Sehkmet interjected.

"Ooh! You wanna bet money on that?"

"No…I'm just stating the obvious."

"Darn…" Cale snapped his fingers in disappointment.

"WHOA!" Dais' single eye widened when he saw something in the distance. The other two Elders followed his gaze and their eyes widened in surprise as well upon seeing two gigantic figures wrestling miles away in the city. One looked like the Inferno Dragon. The other looked like a similar-sized Kento of Hardrock. "…I always knew they fed him too much…"

"Hey, boss? Mind if we clock out early today?" Sehkmet hollered down.

"What?! You spend all morning clowning around, and now you wanna jet? I don't think so!"

"Well it's not because we _want_ to, believe me. It has more to do with that," Cale pointed to the struggling titans. The supervisor turned around and clamped his hands over his hardhat.

"GAH! The insurance rates are gonna kill me!" he whimpered and ran into his office.

"Come on guys," Dais began and stood up straight. "It's time to protect…our paycheck!" he declared and pointed at the horizon dramatically.

* * *

"Uhh…uhh…" Miz Paufan sat at the console and flipped between two channels. One was his favorite entertainment channel, the other a news broadcasting channel, and he was trying to make sure he wasn't confusing one with the other. One showed a large bulky gray-green dinosaur laying waste to a scale-model city. The other showed a winged pearl-scaled long-necked reptile grappling with a silver-and-orange armored humanoid that rivaled it in height.

"…Captaaaaiiiin? Captaaaaain!" Miz called and scrambled out of his seat and out into the main cavern. "We got a _big_ problem! Actually, 'big' is sorta an understatement…actually, 'understatement' is a big understatement…"

* * *

Raurgoth's unconscious body slammed against the ground, and his neck stretched over crushed buildings and cracked streets. Kento raised his bo high, intending to impale his foe, but Raurgoth's body dissolved into white light and swept into the distance just before the rounded end of the weapon plunged into the pavement. Kento let out an irritated roar and glanced about.

Ryo held his arm raised and waited for the energy to flow into his ring before changing the insignia back into Lion. He lowered his arms and sighed.

"_That_ was a _bad_ idea of _monumental_ proportions," Sage commented.

"…Yeah…I get that," Ryo grumbled and glanced at him. "Oh great, those guys again…" Ryo scowled when he spotted helicopter gunships approaching the giant Ronin Warrior.

"Eh, I give'em a minute tops," Rowen smirked.

_"Target is locked. Engaging hostile target. Fire at will. I repeat: Fire at will."_ The three gunships let loose a withering barrage of missile and gunfire, striking the monstrous humanoid in the upper torso. Thick black smoke obscured their quarry for a few moments. Suddenly a gleaming metal claw attached to a thick black cable shot out and struck the middle chopper in the tail section. The crew wasted no time parachuting out and the burning wreckage of their gunship fluttered to the ground. The smoke wafted away and Kento stood there, unscathed and ticked.

"_Forget this."_ The remaining two choppers turned tail and flew off into the distance.

"Told ya," Rowen grinned. Kento didn't seem as forgiving, however, and gave chase.

"Those idiots! They'll lead him back into the city!" Sage shouted.

"_Target is in pursuit! Target is in pursuit_!" The rear-most chopper wove from side to side frantically, barely avoiding the swipe of Kento's sharpened fingertips. The transformed Ronin Warrior sprang onto a nearby building, nearly crumpling it under his weight, and stalked after the fleeing choppers. The pilot looked out the side of his cockpit window at the burning white eyes.

"KENTO OF HARDROCK!" Kento paused when he heard a faint voice shout and looked to the side. He let out a puzzled grunt and forgot about the gunships.

Ryo smacked a hand against his face and splayed his fingers. "Please tell me I'm not seeing what I think I'm seeing…" he growled through his teeth.

"The confectionary treat tempts you!" a fully-armored Dais shouted and pointed at a giant shimmering floating donut hovering in the air. Kento stared at the apparition, perplexed at first, then let out a pleased hum and moved towards it. Dais sprang back and back and the illusory pastry followed. Sehkmet and Cale-also in full armor-escorted him.

"Try to lead him to the coast!" Rowen hollered as he flew using his Eagle sub-armor.

"Easier said than done…whoa! He's fast!" Dais exclaimed when Kento crouched and pounced like a hungry beast. He reached up and pawed at the donut, barely missing it. He lunged and swiped once more, and this time his hand passed through the illusion. His glowing white eyes narrowed and he let out an enraged bellow. "I think he realizes he's been had!"

"SNAKE FANG STRIKE!" Sehkmet threw his swords at nearby buildings. They stuck into the walls and sent out clouds of reddish fog. Kento roared but faltered from the poison.

"WEB OF DECEPTION!" Dais unleashed hundreds of web strands that looped around Kento's limbs, but even in his weakened state the giant Ronin managed to break free.

"I'll handle this," Cale said and drew his sword. "BLACK LIGHTNING SLASH! TOTAL DARK!" Kento grunted in surprise when the tendrils of crackling blackness wrapped around him, enshrouding him completely. He apparently made no effort to break free.

"How long can you keep him like that?" Ryo asked as he and Sage arrived.

"As long as you need!" Cale replied and kept both arms raised.

_"Ryo! This is Bak!"_ Ryo raised his wrist-com when he heard the transmission. "_We have a counteragent that can restore Kento to his original state. Tar and I are on our way!"_

"These old bones of mine aren't meant for such physical exertion!" Tar Uhnin grumbled as he ran alongside the younger Bak Thraplek, their tails flagging behind them.

"Courage, old friend. We're nearly there," Bak comforted. They arrived on the same rooftop Ryo and Sage stood on and approached the two Ronin. "It would seem Kento has been exposed to the same chemical Mal Daggur employed against Pegasus years ago."

"Danae said it required a cycling filter to remain effective…shouldn't it wear off soon if we keep him isolated?" Sage asked. Tar and Bak exchanged glances before Tar looked forward.

"In about a year, perhaps." Ryo and Sage looked dismayed at that. "Worry not. I developed this for just such an emergency. I just never imagined I'd have to use it on a human instead of a Pegasi," Tar explained and drew out a heavy-looking rifle. He loaded in a canister the length of a human forearm and raised the muzzle of the weapon. "It'll only work if delivered directly into his bloodstream…if he's in full armor, then a shot to his neck would do."

"Cale! Bak's got a cure ready. Drop it!" Rowen relayed. Cale sheathed his sword and dismissed the crackling shroud of blackness.

"…where…where did he go?" Dais' eye widened when he couldn't see Kento. The air appeared completely empty and buildings on either side undamaged. The only thing unusual seemed to be a large ragged hole in the earth below where Kento had been standing.

"That…wasn't…there before…" Sehkmet began. Just then the building the three Elders stood on shuddered and split open. Dais and Sehkmet cried out and managed to spring away before the roof collapsed entirely, but something caught Cale around the waist and jerked him through the air. Ryo, Sage, and the two Nobles shielded their eyes from the rolling dust cloud with their arms and Rowen ascended out of reach. Cale coughed and sputtered, blinking dust from his eyes. His vision cleared and he saw black-armored fingers wrapped around his torso, keeping his sword arm pinned to his side. He looked up into burning angry white eyes.

"AAAAAAHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEE !" Cale heard himself scream in a pitch he didn't think himself capable of producing. "PLEASE DON'T EAT ME! I'M FOUR-HUNDRED YEARS OLD! I'M NOT VERY TASTY!" Cale begged and waved his free hand at Kento, who studied him closely, apparently evaluating the nutrition content of the former Dark Warlord.

"Yoo hoo!" Kento's attention went from the squirming warrior in his grip to the petite pink-armored figure hanging upside down from the rim of his helmet. Cale squawked in protest when Kento released his grip, letting him fall. Dais shot off a net of webbing for Cale to land on.

_Whoa…what's wrong with his eyes_… Tanya thought when she saw the white-colored eyes with glowing slit-shaped pupils glaring at her out of the shadows inside the helmet. "Rodeo time! Yee hah!" She sprang to the side and ran atop the helmet when Kento tried grabbing her. Kento growled in frustration and reached up again. Tanya yelped and ducked when one of his sharpened fingertips came dangerously close to lopping off half of one of her ponytails.

"She's keeping him still. Now's the time!" Ryo said to Tar. The elderly Noble raised the rifle and took aim. He sighted along the barrel and tried to find a bare spot between the lower rim of the helmet and the armor collar. Meanwhile, Tanya scampered over Kento's upper body, leading him on a merry chase. Tar narrowed one eye and raised a claw over the trigger.

"Bhazzak! My aim isn't what it used to be!" he hissed and lowered the rifle.

"Rowen is capable of flight. What if he were to take the canister and administer the counteragent up close while your sister has him distracted?" Bak suggested to Ryo. Rowen, who hovered close by, looked appalled by the suggestion. His eyes widened in dismay.

"Uhh! That won't be necessary!" He waved both hands hastily and alighted on the roof corner. "ARMOR OF STRATA!" he raised one arm and summoned full armor. "There's one girl I know who can make that shot. I'll be right back," he said before the teleport rings swept down.

"Oh…_this_ is going to be interesting…" Sage commented.

Kento huffed angrily and seemed like he'd gotten bored with the Lady Ronin's antics. Tanya clambered atop the crest covering the visor and whistled shrilly. "Yoo hoo! Up here!" she taunted and stomped her foot on the metal repeatedly. Kento growled and gripped his bo with both hands. He held it infront of himself and began swinging it back and forth. "…He woudn't."

"He wouldn't!" Tar exclaimed.

"He would…" Ryo muttered and folded his arms. Tanya watched nervously as Kento swung the large metal shaft close then away, tensing.

*_KRAAAK!_* "ARRRAAAAAGH!" Kento bellowed after striking himself in the head.

"Missed me!" Tanya hollered and hung upside down from the visor again. The chase resumed, and Ryo and Sage glanced to the side when they heard the hum of newly-formed teleport rings. The rings swung down then up, revealing Rowen carrying Roxi Hirochner.

"We need your aim here if we hope to restore Kento to normal," Rowen explained.

"Hoo BOY, now I've seen everything!" Roxi exclaimed when she saw the monstrously huge Kento of Hardrock. She glanced to the side and blinked in surprise. Shannon had told her about the Ronin's new allies, but she had yet to see a Thunthen for herself until now, and what she saw-to her-looked like a cross between Santa Claus and King Koopa. "…Okay, I guess I _haven't_ seen everything…" she muttered. Tar Uhnin glanced uneasily from Rowen to the blue-haired civilian woman and begrudgingly handed her the rifle.

"The trigger is here. The muzzle is-"

"I know how to use a gun, thank you. I've been shooting since I was old enough to speak," Roxi took the rifle and raised the stock to her shoulder.

"The counteragent must be delivered directly into his blood stream," Tar spoke while Tanya kept Kento occupied. Roxi's attention, however, remained on a single strand of hair flagging between her eyes. She glanced from the strand to the giant Ronin Warrior then at the strand again. She tilted the rifle muzzle to the side slightly. "Ahh…your aim is a bit off…"

"Sir, touch me and so help me I'll shoot you with this thing myself," Roxi drawled, keeping her eye pressed against the scope. Tar grimaced and withdrew his hand.

"That would be a bad idea considering I only had time to manufacture enough for one dose-" Roxi squeezed the trigger and the canister flew off towards Kento. Tar's jaw dropped and he let out a ragged sigh of dismay, letting his shoulders hang.

The canister whistled through the air, arcing to the side ever so slowly. Then it caught the wind just so that it curved back towards Kento just as he tilted his head up to glare at the persistent Lady Ronin, exposing the shadowed skin of his neck. The canister just barely missed the lower rim of his helmet and struck the flesh above the jugular vein. Tar's eyes widened and his nearly-white beard pressed against his chest, his jaw hung so low. Roxi swung the rifle up and rest it against her shoulder, chewing her lip in satisfaction. She then swung the rifle to the side and smacked it into Tar's chest, where he caught it in his arms.

Kento's body convulsed and he let out a pained groan. The sudden movement threw Tanya off balance, and despite scrambling desperately for a handhold on the armor, she fell away towards the street. "oh shiiit," she gulped and flailed through the air. "Ooof!" she grunted when Rowen caught her by her torso. "Thanks," she said and glanced at him.

"No prob," Rowen said and carried her up to a nearby roof. The two watched as Kento let out a pained moan and tossed his head. His eyes drooped shut and his arms hung limp. The surface of Kento's body seemed to turn into sand, and particles hung in the air forming a Kento-shaped cloud. The dust cloud began sinking towards the ground.

"NOO! What's happening to him! He's falling apart!" Ryo shrieked, alarmed.

"No no, that's supposed to happen!" Bak waved a hand at him reassuringly. "It's his body shedding the excess matter he absorbed. If you recall, Pegasus went through a similar experience when _he_ was restored…" They watched anxiously as the cloud began to disperse. The Ronin and the two Nobles leapt down onto the street and ran towards the area of buildings covered in silver-orange dust. Tar carried Roxi in his arms. They found an unconscious armored form lying on the ground near a wall. The three Elders arrived and approached warily.

"Hey, what _is_ this stuff?" Tanya asked and ran a fingertip over the wall, rubbing off a clump of fine yellowish dust from the surface.

"That would be the discarded matter, mainly metallic particles and dead tissue," Tar explained while setting Roxi down on the ground.

"Waugh!" Tanya squawked and yanked her arm back.

"Rowen, you and the Elders go to the site Kento was investigating and see what you can find," Ryo ordered. Rowen nodded and gathered the Elders for a group teleport. Ryo knelt beside the restored unconscious Kento and gently nudged him in the arm. "Kento? You okay? C'mon bud, wake up," Ryo whispered and pushed again. Kento stirred faintly and opened normal-looking blue eyes. He groaned and sat up, placing a hand on the back of his helmet.

"Uhh…what-? Ryo? Hey!" He tried staggering to his feet when he saw Tar and Bak.

"Relax, Kento! It's just Bak," Ryo assured and patted him on the shoulder.

"Bak? But…the other Nobles…where'd they go?"

"You saw Nobles in the city? In broad daylight?"

"They were guarding something before they attacked…I…I can't remember anything else."

_"Ryo, we're at the site but we can't find anything."_ Rowen reported.

"Did you check out what's left of the buildings?"

_"That's the thing…there…well…there isn't any wreckage. It's like they just vanished."_

"That's impossible!"

"No, it is perfectly possible," Bak spoke up and stepped forward. "In order to attain his size, Kento would have had to absorb a great deal of matter from nearby sources." Kento glanced at him, startled and confused by the statement. "Pegasus consumed the former Mazzan complex when he was infected… Mal Daggur could not have anticipated this. He planned to infect other Pegasi en masse. He might try again in the future. We must be careful and prepare."

"Up and at 'em, partner," Roxi drawled and helped Sage haul a still-dazed Kento to his feet. Sage summoned his armor and teleported the three of them to the infirmary.

"Ryo, I should tell you," Tar Uhnin leaned close and lowered his voice to a whisper. "We may not be, erm, 'out of the woods' just yet. When Kento is in a better mood, I need to draw blood from him again for testing. I am not as well versed in the workings of your species as I would like. If you know of a person with such expertise, now would be a good time to call them."

"Yeah…sure...we got some favors we can call in," Ryo replied uneasily. He frowned in concern, wondering what could have the old Noble so disturbed. Kento was cured after all, and he looked perfectly normal…and perhaps hungrier than ever.

* * *

"Cochran, you said you wanted to see me?" Mal Daggur queried as he entered the lab complex aboard the _Nsenagvvik_. Lazro Cochran looked up from his worktable.

"Heya Daggy," he greeted cheerfully. Mal Daggur grumbled to himself; he immensely detested Cochran's habit of applying 'nicknames' to Nobles, but kept any remarks to himself as he approached. "Bru said one of the Ronin Warriors came into contact with the chemical. You've never tested this stuff before on living beings, have you?"

"No. It was never designed for such."

"Ah, hrm, well, I did some testing of my own and found something very interesting. Check this out," Cochran removed the lid from a plastic container.

"…It's…a _worm_," Mal Daggur half-growled in disdain upon seeing the squirming green black-and-white striped organism munching on vegetation.

"Tomato hornworm, to be exact. My grandma used to have these in her garden. Nice, tough, plump… These little wrigglies are just _full_ of muscle. A few hours ago, I dosed this guy and stuck him in one of the big containment units until it…well…until he did his thing. Now, assuming the Ronin have someone on their team half as smart as I am if they restored their friend back to normal, they would've had to use a counteragent to neutralize the effects of the chemical. I used a similar counteragent on this little guy, but watch what happens," Cochran scooted his chair back slightly and gestured to the container. "Poke it." Mal Daggur threw him a sideways glare. "Without killing him, of course," Cochran added and waved both hands.

Mal Daggur's lips curled in a snarl but he reached forward with one hand. Poking, no matter how gently, would injure or kill the worm. He instead elected to nudge it with the back of his index claw. No response. He nudged it again, trying to goad a response.

The worm twitched up and latched onto his claw with its tiny feet. It coiled around the ivory white spike and appeared to swell. Mal Daggur's eyes widened when the worm began distorting, growing significantly and changing color into a metallic blue. The worm squeezed tightly, compressing the claw and Mal Daggur felt as if the claw would splinter from the pressure. He reached up to peel the creature off, but Cochran grabbed his wrist and grinned.

The altered worm relaxed its grip slowly and plopped back into the container. It twitched from side to side, rearing up and searching about before settling in the bed of vegetation. Mal Daggur massaged his fingertip but watched intrigued as the worm's body slowly shrank.

"This stuff would have interesting uses on the Pegasi's riders as well, don't ya think?"

"Indeed…especially with the time-delayed formula you devised…very good, Cochran. Your ingenuity and antipathy continues to be a thing of inspiration," Mal Daggur complemented then turned to leave. Cochran raised an arm and grimaced.

"Ahh, Daggy. If you don't mind, I'd like to be so bold as to inquire as to…what sort of compensation I can be expecting for all my efforts," Cochran said with a slight grin.

"…'Com-pen-sation'?" Mal Daggur drawled, as if the word sounded foreign to him. He slowly turned to the side and walked back to the table. "My dear Mr. Cochran, your 'com-pen-sation' will be to _live_," Mal Daggur grinned toothily. Lazro kept his face frozen in a smug mask but inwardly his stomach churned. "Comfortably, I might add but…well…let's just say I hope you don't require the company of other members of your species to…retain your _sanity_."

"I've…never considered myself much of a…people person…" Lazro uttered, doing his best not to gulp or betray any nervousness, though Mal Daggur probably smelled it anyway.

"There are a number of small islands on the western rim of this planet's largest body of water… We'll have no use for them. I assume you'll manage to situate yourself upon one of those," Mal Daggur returned with his own grin and exited the lab. Lazro Cochran sat in his chair, sweating under his clean uniform. Deep inside, a faint voice screamed how wrong this all sounded, how he should try to resist, but Lazro shushed it and resumed examining his notes.

_Ooh_, he paused and straightened in his chair. _I wonder if I get to pick which island…_


	27. Emdourachil

Emdourachil

By Mardrena

"Hey Ryo! Wait up!" Ryo paused after disembarking from the cable lift and looked over his shoulder to see Rowen, Sage, and Sehkmet jog over to him. Rowen held a clipboard in one hand. "We've been thinking; if we're gonna be using this place, we should give it a name, right?"

"We should call it something, _evocative_," Sage added enthusiastically.

"We've been tossing ideas back and forth, stuff like 'Bastion of Seclusion', or 'Halls of Righteousness'. We were wondering if you had any input," Sehkmet put forth. Ryo bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling of the main cavern. He recalled how he'd initially compared it to Thananagreia's vaulted roof, and how Raurgoth could fit comfortably with room to stretch his wings. He folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head back then glanced at the others.

"Roost," he said simply. The others exchanged confused glances.

"That's it…just…'Roost'? Nothing else?" Rowen wrinkled his nose.

"Yeah," Ryo said and nodded confidently before walking off to resume his task.

"…Can we put that to a vote?" Sage called and raised a hand.

"Nope." Ryo replied over his shoulder. Rowen, Sage, and Sehkmet frowned in dismay. "Hey Miz, it ready yet?" Ryo asked as he entered the comm. room. The Common stood at attention.

"Should be coming online momentarily, assuming your ally across the ocean has competent technicians under her command," Miz Paufan answered and leaned over the console typing.

"She's a business woman, she has employees…though…now that I think about it, you might've had it right the first time," Ryo grimaced and scratched his ear. The main screen displayed a series of colored bars marked with flickering Highscript symbols. Miz typed a final command then rose from the chair to stand next to Ryo. The screen shifted to a view of a middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair wearing a neat outfit seated behind a desk. "Ms. O'Connor! It's good to see you! How have things be-" Ryo began with a smile.

"_Why is this thing not operational yet? What do I pay you people for? Honestly, you couldn't fix a_ toaster _if your lives depended on it!_" the woman shouted off to the side.

"Uh…Ms. O'Connor, we're receiving you just fine on this end. I-" Ryo raised a finger.

"_And where is the damn staff report I asked for earlier? It's been five minutes! Did the elevator break down or something_?" Shannon's esteemed aunt and Charle's oldest sibling Jacqueline O'Connor continued berating her employees without abandon. Ryo's face wrinkled in embarrassment and Miz looked as if his horns wanted to wilt. Jacqueline glanced at the screen out the corner of her eye. "_Oh hey there! Didn't see you! How are you folks doing?"_

"We're…fine, thank you…and we _totally_ didn't hear you reaming your staff…"

"_Oh pishposh, a little verbal motivation never hurt anybody_," Jacqueline closed her eyes and waved a hand. "_Anywho, I got your message last night and I already have my top guy on an express flight over there. He should be arriving in a few hours. Name's Anatole Duncan: twice as sharp as that rat Cochran and he believes in a little something called 'ethics'. Thanks to his expertise, Gary was able to be with his family for Christmas!_"

"Hey! That's good to hear!" Ryo beamed. He opened his mouth to speak again.

"_I'm still waiting for that staff report! Unless you want me to whip out what I keep in my wall safe, I suggest you hop to it people!_" Jacqueline clenched her hand and shook it furiously, glancing off-screen. She frowned and glanced back at Ryo then cocked her head, apparently noticing Miz for the first time. "…_What are you looking at, son?"_ she scowled. Miz made a whining gulp and tucked his head down against the upper rim of his shell.

* * *

"Man…I did all this?" Kento whispered as he and Cye walked along the sidewalk. Scaffolding and tarp covered damaged walls of buildings and barricades blocked off the sites of buildings no longer standing. City workers (Elders included) labored to tidy up the mess.

"Well…to be honest, I think Raurgoth ended up doing more damage, what with you beating the royal pudding out of him and all," Cye assured cheerfully. "You don't remember anything?"

"Nuh uh. Everything's a blank after I got attacked…did…did I hurt anyone?"

"Naw, though I hear you almost ate Cale," Cye grinned.

"Waaaugh!" Kento stuck his tongue out and made a face. "I don't think he would've tasted good going down!" Kento shook his head and stuffed his hands in his jacket pockets.

"That's what he said," Cye chuckled. "Look, how about I buy you lunch to help take your mind off of things. Food's never failed to cure all ills with you."

"Really? You mean that?" Kento perked up and glanced at Cye.

"Absolutely. C'mon, it'll be my treat!"

Cye would later come to regret that. Not because of the expense, of course not. The place they'd gone to boasted a modest all-you-can-eat buffet for a reasonable price. No, what bothered Cye ended up being Kento's rather…unsettling behavior. He _devoured_ his food, _ravenously_, grunting and humming in pleasure as he cleaned plate after plate. Kento left not so much as a particle of food on each plate, and even Whiteblaze or Azuro wouldn't have cleared them so thoroughly. Cye sat opposite his friend with his elbow on the table and his cheek resting against his palm and watched Kento proceed to literally eat his weight in food.

"Are…you feeling allright?" Cye asked uneasily.

"Never better," Kento mumbled between mouthfuls. Just then a restaurant employee approached the table meekly and opened his mouth to speak.

"Pardon me, sir. I'm going to have to um…ask you to leave," the worker said and winced.

"Why?" Kento asked and gulped down his current mouthful, frowning.

"It's just-well…you've consumed more than is…reasonably possible. Our cooks are having trouble keeping up," the worker gestured to the nearly-emptied pans along the counter.

"Ooooh boy, now you've done it," Cye muttered as Kento pushed his chair back and stood up, reaching out to grab the hapless worker by the front of his uniform.

Other patrons in the establishment watched, both intrigued and frightened as Kento dragged the man outside onto the sidewalk. Cye shook his head and massaged his brow, looking over his shoulder periodically when he heard the window rattle from Kento banging the worker's face against the pane where painted letters advertised the restaurant's specials. Kento's mouth moved as he shouted, and the worker could only flail his arms. Kento thumped the worker once more before releasing him and storming back inside and back towards his seat. Cye waited for him to seat himself and resume eating. "…are you _sure_ you're allright?"

"_Why_ does everybody keep asking me that?!" Kento thumped a fist against the table.

"_'Everybody'_ isn't asking you. _I'm_ the one asking you since _I'm_ the only one who's been with you the entire day!" Cye began waving his hands at his sides.

"…Cye…" Kento frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"And I'm only asking because you obviously seem stressed about something that may or may not have anything to do with the fact that you spent the better half of yesterday-"

"Cye." Kento scowled and set his jaw.

"Doing your impression of Godzilla and pounding the stuffing out of a 200-ton dragon, not to mention nearly wiping out an entire gunship squadron and eating a fellow Roni-"

"Cye!" Cye stopped his tirade and looked at his friend. "Shut up." Kento said firmly. Cye opened his mouth to speak then closed it and set his hands in his lap. Kento had never said something like that to him before, but Cye kept quiet as Kento resumed eating sullenly.

* * *

A short man with horn-rimmed bifocals and the only remaining traces of brown hair located along the back of his head between his ears shuffled through the parking garage of the airport. He hefted a briefcase in one hand and scanned the parking spaces for his designated contact. He spotted his name written on a sheet of white card but as he approached he saw the hand that held it belonged to a young man with black hair dozing blissfully straddled atop a white motorcycle. "Erm…excuse me, young man?" He nudged the man sleeping against the handlebars.

The young man mumbled and opened sleepy blue eyes. He stretched his shoulders and rolled his head. "Sorry. We had a rough day yesterday, didn't sleep too well. You the guy Ms. O'Connor sent? Go ahead, hop on," the man nodded behind him.

"Uhh…I'd rather call a cab if it's okay with you. I suffer from severe motion-sickness."

"…you just got off a red-eye and you have motion-sickness?" the man raised an eyebrow.

"I went through twenty bags on the plane!" Anatole Duncan blubbered. The young man grimaced and glanced from side to side, apparently checking security camera blind spots.

"Gimme a sec," he said and stepped away from the motorcycle. "ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!" Professor Duncan staggered back a step when the young man became enveloped by brilliant flames. Hands covered with black plate metal emerged from the fire and clenched. The flames vanished, and the young man-now clad in red-and-silver armor-tossed his head, flicking the last remnants of fire from the forking head crest that adorned his helmet. He straddled the motorcycle once more. "Ready when you are, Professor Duncan," the man said.

"…Jackie certainly keeps strange company…" Anatole sighed and adjusted his bifocals. He hauled his luggage onto the rear rack of the motorcycle and clutched his briefcase in one arm.

"Hang on tight," the young man cautioned. Anatole noticed how he didn't gun the engine at all. He gasped and cringed when glowing rings of crimson appeared above the two and began sweeping down. Anatole squeaked and raised his arm to shield his bald head, squeezing his eyes shut. He dared open them when he heard the thrum and bustle of the airport give way to a deep stillness and saw that they stood atop a large onyx-and-gold tile fashioned in a samurai-helm design. A staggeringly high ceiling marked with blunted round protrusions arced overhead.

"Ryo, you're back! This the fellow Jacqueline dispatched to aid us?" an older-looking man with long straight auburn hair and striking green eyes inquired. He wore dark-blue body armor.

"Yup. Here ya go," Ryo tossed the motorcycle keys to the other man, who caught them neatly. "So, how'd the mission to Thanged go?" Ryo slipped off his helmet.

"Better than expected. The Council of Houses proved to be more lenient on smaller Thunthen. Young Australa actually recommended they serve their penance in Peirolyth…" The two walked off talking between themselves, leaving Anatole astride the motorcycle.

"Um…I'm slightly uncertain as to what I'm expected to do here…I was told I'd be working alongside a fellow named Tar Uhni-ooooohmy!" Anatole nearly fell off the seat when he turned around and found himself face to snout with a rather large orange-skinned gray-bearded saurian.

"You're looking at him," Tar Uhnin drawled.

* * *

"You almost done in there?" Cye called and thumped on the door to the men's room.

"Yeah, just a minute…" After emptying several more pans of food, Kento finally sated his appetite and had retired to the restroom to relieve himself...only…he hadn't. He'd spent the past five minutes leaning over the sink and staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He braced his palms against the rim of the sink and laid his fingers against the sides.

He peered closely at his reflection, wondering if some truth lay in Cye's concerns. Perhaps some sort of side-effect of Tar's cure. He reached up and peeled down an eyelid before releasing it. Then he stuck out his tongue and examined the surface. He retracted it and furrowed his brow in frustration. Then he sighed and briefly rinsed his hands and dried them against his jacket. He glanced at the mirror once more before preparing to step away towards the door.

He only remembered the sudden wave of dizzying pain and slumping forward, barely catching himself on the sink. He clutched the rim tightly and his vision of the drain blurred. His breath came out in rattling gasps, as if suffering from congestion. His eyes felt like they burned, as if having stayed awake too long. He could feel his skin become clammy, as if suffering from fever. His bones felt weak and heavy, and his neck ached with pain. It seemed as if it took all of his strength just to tilt his head up and look into the mirror. Despite being blurred, his vision discerned a pair of eyes staring back that did not seem to belong to him.

"You allright in there? This is what he gets for pigging out so much…" he heard Cye mutter as if he stood right next to him. Kento shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Yeah…I'm fine…I'll be out in a sec…" he croaked and looked back at the mirror. He saw his own eyes staring back at him, bold and blue…not the strange colorless ones he'd seen. He reached up and massaged his eyelids with his fingertips. "Man…what is up with me…" He pushed away from the sink and headed for the door, not at all noticing the five puncture marks in either side of the sink bowl and the cracks that spread outward through the ceramic.

Cye glanced to the side when he saw the door swing open and Kento trudged out, shrugging his jacket over his shoulders. "Bout time…c'mon." The two ventured out onto the sidewalk. Cye glanced sideways at Kento and smirked. "Good gracious. Where on Earth did you put all that food? Maybe it's pushing up into your brain and that's what's making you so grumpy."

"Look, Cye; cheese it with the food jokes, okay? It gets a little old after awhile…"

"You know I'm just teasing you. Honestly, you shouldn't let such things get to you-"

"WELL MAYBE IT DOES GET TO ME!" Cye recoiled and raised an arm to shield himself when Kento whirled on him and leaned close until only an inch separated their faces. Kento spun back around sharply and stormed away a few steps before slowing to a stop. "Cye…I-I'm sorry, man. I don't know where that came from," Kento admitted and rubbed his forehead.

"Well I don't know either, but if you wanted to scare me you bloody damn near did a good job of it…" Cye commented as he approached his friend and moved to the side of him. "Are you _sure_ you're okay? You seem awfully edgy today… you _are_ still recovering…"

"…Actually…I feel pretty good…" Kento said while shading his eyes with his fingers.

"What do you mean?" Cye raised an eyebrow and cocked his head.

"Well…I feel…_healthy_…" Kento raised his hands infront of his chest and splayed his fingers then clenched them. "Like I'm ready for anyone…ready for anything!" he flexed his arms at his sides and tossed his head, grinning. His hair seemed to bristle and his eyes looked wild.

"Whoa, easy there! You're probably going stir-crazy since you haven't been in a real battle for some time. Lately it's either getting beaten up by alien dinosaurs or being knocked unconscious. Don't worry. I'm sure the Dynasty will toss something our way to help you vent frustration," Cye assured and patted Kento's shoulder. Kento glanced at him and nodded. "C'mon, we should be getting back home." The two continued walking and neither paid any heed when Kento's shoulder brushed into a taller, bulker-looking man.

"Hey, you gonna apologize?" Kento and Cye turned around and saw the burly man and his smaller, stockier companion. "I believe you owe us an apology," the man smirked.

"For what? You're the one who bumped into me," Kento snorted.

"You shoulda moved out of the way. You didn't, so now you need to apologize."

"Psh, like Hell I will…"

"They're just looking for trouble. Kento, this isn't the time…"

"Why not? You said I had to vent frustration. Now's as good a time as any."

"They're not worth the effort. Let's just ignore them and keep walking."

"Hey, who do you think you are thinking you can get away just like that?" the smaller punk seized Cye by the front of his coat and dragged him away, leaving Kento alone against the burly man who stood at least a head taller than him. The thug grinned and stepped closer.

"While my pal teaches him some manners, why don't you remember yours and say 'sorry'," the man's lips peeled up over poorly-maintained teeth and he leaned close, breathing his stink into Kento's face. "I'm not hearing anything. Maybe I have to remind you since your mother obviously didn't-_urk_!" the thug gurgled, unable to react in time when Kento seized him by the throat swiftly. He tried to struggle and fight back, but Kento's grip tightened.

The thug wheezed from the pressure on his windpipe, and Kento dragged him to eye-level and leaned close. The thug blinked in surprise and tears ran from his eyes. He heard a strange sound exit his would-be-victim's mouth from behind clenched teeth: a sound like the warning growl of an animal. His tear-blurred vision saw Kento's pupils as being white.

"Kento, let him go. Let's just get out of here," Cye spoke up as he approached, looking entirely unscathed. Kento registered his friend after a moment and released the thug. He turned around and the two Ronin Warriors walked away down the sidewalk.

"Man! What is wrong with those people?" the smaller stocky man whined as he ran to the side of his partner, sporting a bloody crumpled nose. "Whoa…dude, what's up with your neck?!"

"Huh? Whad'ya talking about?" the taller thug asked.

"Your neck! It-it's bleeding! I think that guy scratched you or something!" The two punks frantically tried to staunch the trickling. Cye spared a troubled glance over his shoulder.

They returned to the car and Cye drove the way home. Kento remained brooding in the passenger seat and said nothing until they arrived at the estate. Cye pulled the keys from the ignition and stepped out, shutting the door behind him. He did a double take when he saw Kento peel off his jacket and toss it back into the car. "Kento, it's freezing out. You're not cold?"

"I'm hot…" Kento muttered and rubbed his shoulder.

"You're practically like a furnace with all that food you ate. No wonder…what…are you doing?" Cye raised an eyebrow when he saw Kento tilt his head back and sniff the air.

"Wow…who's cooking barbecue?" Kento whispered and sniffed again, closing his eyes.

"Barbecue? Out here?" Cye sniffed the air himself. "…I don't smell anything…you must be having food hallucinations again. You should probably go sleep it off in bed."

"Actually…I think I'm gonna go for a walk…work it off that way. I'll be back in time for dinner," Kento assured and waved before turning around and walking down the path.

"…he still expects dinner after all that…" Cye rolled his eyes and headed inside. Kento pretended not to hear him…even though he did, and quite clearly at that. He walked a few paces with his hands in his pants pockets, ignoring the chill in the air.

He paused and pulled his hands out, letting his arms hang at his sides. He walked forward swiftly a few steps then quickened into a jog before breaking into a full-speed sprint. Instead of moving his arms back and forth at his sides, he held them wide and his fingers splayed. His breath rattled in his lungs, and he gave the cold no heed as he ran and ran through the forest.

* * *

"Hey, you two said you had something important you needed to talk to me about?" Ryo wearing sub-armor asked as he leaned into the infirmary. Tar Uhnin opened his mouth to speak.

"Y-yes! And no, at least not yet!" Anatole Duncan interjected and waggled a finger to the side. "Have you finished distilling your solution yet?" he asked of Tar, whose razor teeth clicked in a stammer before the elderly Noble shook his head and turned around to hunch over his worktable. "The…um…incident Jackie described in her briefing packet…how long ago was it?"

"Yesterday…why?" Ryo frowned and walked over to the table.

"Roughly twenty-four hours since first occurrence…that leaves forty-eight hours window…Where is the subje-er…victim, -er, patient?" Professor Duncan stammered.

"He went out into the city with a friend. I can ask if they're back yet. Cye, can you come down to the infirmary real quick? Bring Kento with you," Ryo spoke into his wrist-com before glancing back at the professor. "What's this about 'forty-eight hours'?"

"I really wish you'd kept your friend down here for observation…standard procedures you'd think they'd be familiar with. Didn't you say anything to him?" Anatole asked Tar, who looked at a loss for words while he monitored something brewing in a machine.

"Hello all. What's up?" Cye asked as he arrived, clad in sub-armor.

"Where's Kento?" Ryo asked and glanced out into the main cavern.

"He said he wanted to go for a walk after we got home…"

"You let him out of your sight?! Why would you do something like that!?" Professor Duncan blurted and stepped over to Cye quickly. Cye had yet to have met the man and blinked at him.

"…He _said_ he wanted to go for a walk, I didn't see any reason to _not_ let him!"

"Oh this is decidedly not good at _all_…Did you observe any form of erratic behavior?"

"Well…he did seem kinda hyper…"

"Yeah, but Kento's always hyper," Ryo commented and shrugged.

"No, I'm not talking about normal-Kento hyper. I'm talking about Rowen-hopped-up-on-leftover-holiday-candy hyper," Cye argued. Ryo grimaced and bit his lip.

"Eesh…that's bad…Anything else?"

"Well…I'm fairly certain he ate twice his weight in food, and he was itching for a fight. Nearly got into several, in fact…"

Anatole went to his personal laptop which he'd hooked up to one of the Thunthen computer tablets. "Agitation…a sense of euphoria… Increased food-intake…could be symptoms…"

"But…Kento always eats that much," Cye said, exchanging glances with Ryo.

"…He does?" Professor Duncan squinted through his bifocals.

"Yeah. It's kinda this little gag among us Ronin Warriors; 'Kento has a black-hole for a stomach', that sorta thing…" Ryo explained and shrugged, waving a hand.

"Sometimes I wonder if he really does…" Cye muttered and shook his head.

"I see…rather than being a symptom, his abnormal metabolism is facilitating adaptation…"

"Whoa! Now wait just a second!" Cye protested. "I know Kento eats like a dump truck but that doesn't give you any right to go off calling him 'abnormal'! That-that's just _insulting_!"

"There's nothing insulting about what he's going through," Anatole said sternly, drawing startled glances from both Ryo and Cye. "Tar and I ran exhaustive tests on the blood he drew from your friend yesterday, and we cross-referenced it with his current genetic profile on record. Kento's blood has been contaminated with the same substance that affected him yesterday!"

"What!? No! I thought you said he'd been cured!" Ryo cried.

"I thought so too," Tar spoke up and stepped away from his worktable. "But I did not anticipate the potential lasting effects on organic tissue. The counteragent neutralized the severe effects, but trace amounts remained in Kento's bloodstream. It's remained dormant thus far, but judging from your description, it's reactivating. Even now, it's already affecting him…"

* * *

The ground rushed beneath him. He found he moved much faster this way. Somehow it felt natural. _Closer to the Earth…closer to his power_… Like Antaeus of lore, he felt invincible. All concerns and grudges had fallen far behind, lost in his crazed exhilaration. His burning blood kept the biting cold at bay, and at the same time the rushing air dried the sweat from his skin. He paused and drew himself up in a crouch, laying one arm across his knee and setting his free hand against the ground. Elongated nails scraped into the dirt. He sniffed the air a few times before his lip curled over his teeth and a rattling snarl escaped his throat. He needed to feed.

"Hmm hmm hmm…" a middle-aged portly truck-driver hummed to himself while he gripped the wheel of the truck, trying to stay focused by listening to some music his daughter had recommended. He found it actually worked and bobbed his head to the tune of the perky high-pitched pop. He jumped in his seat when he felt the cab jerk suddenly. "Lord a'mighty!" he yelped and brought the 18wheeler to a stop on the highway shoulder. He turned to the side in his seat and heard thumping sounds coming from the trailer.

"Punk vandals…" he growled and reached into the glove compartment for his personal sidearm. He hopped out of the cab and stormed over to the back door of the trailer. He unlocked the heavy doors and pulled them open, peering inside.

Light spilled into a small portion of the trailer from what looked to be a hole torn right in the roof, as if something had grabbed the metal and peeled it back in a curl. The driver squinted, trying to distinguish shadows from one another. He frowned when he thought he spotted a shadow moving in the very back of the inside, crouched behind plastic-wrapped pallets of boxed and canned food. He heard sounds like that of frenzied snacking, and heard plastic and cardboard tearing. The driver cocked the hammer and raised his revolver. "Hey! Hey! You! In there! What the hell you think you're doing! Git out of here!" he shouted and waved the barrel.

Two glowing white points of light appeared in the shadows, and the driver initially thought them to be flashlights of some kind. The lights bobbed together and moved up high, and he heard footsteps moving his way around the pallets. The intruder passed through the column of light from the busted roof of the trailer, and at the same time, the driver's grip went numb and his sidearm slipped from his grasp. His mouth opened and closed and only a shaky moan left his throat as a pale-colored hand reached out of the shadows of the trailer and grabbed him by the front of his shirt. A strong grip lifted him high off the ground, pulling him towards the edge of the shadows. The driver stared into the two glowing white lights.

"…h-h-hey!...m-m-mister! Buddy! Pal! Listen! If you're hungry, by all means, help yourself! I-I won't stop ya! Honest!" the driver stammered and shook his head. A deep guttural growl answered his entreaty and the pale-colored hand set him back on the ground rather gently. The lights vanished as the intruder turned around and prowled back to the rear of the trailer to resume feasting. The driver scooted to the side, pausing to peek back into the trailer. Contented snarls and grunts echoed through the interior. The driver reached for his radio with shaking hands. The intruder didn't seem inclined to stop him or retaliate for calling for help, though the driver suspected he'd be long gone before any help arrived.

* * *

"It was never _intended_ for such abominable use!" Tar hissed and shook his hands worriedly. He began to speak before pausing, snorting and looking at Ryo. "Mining on the homeworld is very hazardous. Spontaneous tectonic shifts claim the lives of hundreds of workers each season. The chemical was designed to act as a sort of…'molecular magnet', agitating rock at the atomic level to draw precious metals to the surface where they could be safely collected.

"But _Mal Daggur_…Thangiens employ metal in everything from weapons to architecture. They relish in flaunting their bounty! He deduced that if the Thangiens used dererium to craft the bodies of Pegasi, that the chemical could be used as a weapon against them. He sent his elite team to infect Pegasus, and as a result, committed both Danae and Pegasus to the stars."

"At full strength, the chemical causes the victim to absorb matter from anything nearby to increase size at the cost of reduced mental capacity. That's why both Pegasus and Kento could not distinguish between friend and foe when they were infected," Professor Duncan began. "The chemical had lost its efficacy in Pegasus over time, and without the recycling filter, he reverted to normal without requiring a counteragent to restore him. Metal is not living, despite your allies' insistence, so Pegasus did not retain any trace of the chemical in his body.

"With Kento, however, the tiniest trace amounts remained in his blood. Even diluted and weakened, it's causing drastic changes in his body. He can't directly absorb matter any longer, so that's why he has to periodically gorge himself in order to build up sufficient mass and maintain the energy levels needed. Tar determined that there's a seventy-two hour window in which to cure him before any damage done becomes irreversible. Twenty four hours have passed…"

"We have to find him! Gather the others, we need to-" Ryo ordered to Cye.

"No! No! You can't! No! That'd be the worst thing you could possibly do! In his advanced state, there's no telling how your friend would react if you all tried corralling him! No, only one of you can possibly approach him…and I think that's you. Tar, you ready yet?" Anatole asked while he waggled a finger at Ryo. The elderly Noble nodded and finished extracting something from his machine. He turned around and carried over three vials filled with a brilliant light blue liquid. "I need you to deploy your alternate armor's secondary mode. The one you used in Utah…" Ryo hesitated before changing into Lion sub-armor.

Cye watched as Professor Duncan grabbed Ryo's left wrist and pulled his arm towards him. He examined the clawncher mechanism and pinched one of the inert claw darts between his fingers then detached it from the mechanism. He removed the other two and peered closely at them before somehow managing to trigger the tines to open. He unscrewed the caps and spilled the tranquilizer drug onto the floor, shaking the emptied tube dry. He repeated the process for the other two darts then held them in one hand while he retrieved one of the vials from Tar.

Anatole uncorked the first vial and emptied its contents into the first open dart. He did the same for the others then reattached the tips and triggered the tines to close. He handed the darts back to Ryo, who numbly reattached them to the clawncher. "This is all we could manufacture. By the time your alien friends get enough raw materials to produce more, it'd be too late. You have three strikes; then you're out. Keep in mind, Kento will more than likely not recognize you as a friend. He'll be confused, and in a great deal of pain. _Be careful_," Duncan said.

Ryo swallowed hard. He'd never felt such intense dread. He nodded and turned to Cye. "Gather up Rowen and Sage; see if you can get the others too. Have them on standby incase…i-incase the-just get them," Ryo managed before taking off towards the exit tunnel. While he could track Kento's wrist-com using the tracking mode Rowen had installed, Ryo preferred to use a more reliable tracking system. He put two fingers into his mouth and whistled shrilly.

Lion sub-armor allowed him to move faster, but he moved slowly enough for his companion to catch up with him. "Whiteblaze, we need to find Kento right away! Try and look out for his trail," Ryo said. The tiger bounded alongside him as they headed through the forest. They approached a cliff overlooking the highway but paused when they saw parked vehicles. The two of them crouched down behind bushes and peered out at the scene. A police car had parked behind an 18wheeler with a gaping hole in its roof.

"I've been running this route for the past six years, I tell ya I never seen anything like this before, and I've seen my fair share of strange stuff!" the driver babbled.

"…okaaay…Sir, do you happen to be taking any medication? Perhaps under the influence?" the senior officer asked and tapped his pen against his notepad.

"There _was_ a white Bengal tiger that escaped from the zoo earlier this week. She and her cubs have yet to be accounted for," the young officer mentioned.

"I know what you're thinking," the driver glared at each of them. "You think I'm drunk? You think I'm crazy!?" he jerked a thumb at his chest. "Well lemme tell you something! A tiger doesn't grab me and lift me up high enough so that my toes scrape the bumper!" the driver pulled his shirt taut and pointed at the narrow tears in the flannel. The senior officer glanced to the side and sure enough noticed muddy scuff marks that looked consistent with a pair of boots.

"A tiger doesn't land on the roof of a vehicle moving at 70 and peel open the roof like a sardine can!" The driver pointed at the busted roof. The younger officer pointed a flashlight into the interior, shining the beam on the ragged edges. "And a tiger doesn't eat the entire contents of a grocery truck _except_ for the stuff that has _almonds_ in it!" the driver squawked and pointed at the few intact cases lying askew on their pallets.

"Yup, definitely Kento…" Ryo muttered before he and Whiteblaze departed to continue their search. _Professor Duncan's right. Whatever Kento's going through, it's causing him to stuff himself almost constantly_. Ryo didn't stay behind long enough to listen to the rest.

"Can you describe the perp?" the senior officer asked while his young partner clambered inside the trailer to investigate.

"Ehh, not really…I was scared out of my wits I tell ya…he looked kinda…sick, though…like he wadn't right in the head or something. He had these weird glowy white eyes!"

"…'Glowy white eyes'…riiiight…" the senior officer sighed and scribbled notes.

"Hey! I think the old coot might be telling the truth!" the younger officer shouted from inside. The driver seemed more vindicated than insulted and the senior officer took out his own flashlight and leaned inside the trailer as his partner nudged something close.

"Is that…are those…" the senior officer squinted to get a better view. His partner placed his hand against the side of a cardboard case and spread his fingers wide. His fingertips fell well over an inch short of the narrow markings in the thick corrugated cardboard. "_Claw_ marks?!"

* * *

"They ready yet?" Britania Johansen hollered from the kitchen.

"Getting there!" Roxi Hirochner called back and leaned away from the grill on the deck after applying a fresh coat of glaze to four scrumptious-looking racks of beef ribs.

"Ooh! I haven't had real barbecue in _years_!"

"Well, there's a right and wrong way to make it, and unfortunately most eateries here seem to make it the wrong way," Roxi chuckled. She reached town and rubbed the Labrador Retriever Goldheart between the ears playfully before grabbing her practice rifle and stepping off the deck. She decided to shoot rounds while the ribs finished cooking and Brit finished preparing the accompanying side dishes inside the cabin. Roxi stooped over the skeet launcher.

She frowned and glanced sideways when she heard Goldheart start barking. Despite being unable to blast-bark anymore, he tried his darned hardest, apparently distressed about something. Roxi tensed to walk inside to fetch her Sharps, but paused when Goldheart suddenly laid his belly flush against the ground and began scooting backwards. His single tail whisked from side to side and his ears kept moving up and down, twitching nervously. His furious barks turned into muffled whines. Roxi followed his gaze to the edge of the surrounding forest.

"…Whoa…hey there…partner…you're…you're a long ways from home…" she stammered, wide-eyed. Words to describe what-who she saw escaped her at the moment, but the back of her mind told her that she very clearly recognized him. She did her best to push down the hard ball of shock in her gut. Strangely, he didn't seem threatening in the slightest bit. Rather, he seemed interested in something. She glanced to the side at the grill and put two and two together.

"Oh the _HELL_ you will!" Roxi Hirochner had many accolades, and none of them for backing down from a fight. The nerve! The sheer _audacity_! She straightened herself, squaring her shoulders and tilting up her chin. Her dyed hair draped around her shoulders like a mane. "Don't you dare! Don't you _dare_! I can easily put four of these in each eye socket before you even get near!" She hoped the bluff worked, considering she only wielded her practice rifle. Then again, in his condition, he might not even recognize the difference.

A shudder went down her spine when she heard a growl unlike anything she'd ever heard before from any animal she'd confronted, not even from a persistent grizzly she'd warded off years ago in a similar situation. He didn't like being denied. She cocked the hammer back and took aim. "Go on, get on out of here!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. Dirt scraped as he moved closer. "GIT!" Roxi fired into the air and reloaded blindingly fast. "GIT!" she screamed again, firing repeatedly, using the skills she'd acquired a wall full of trophies with in the past to defend herself in the present. He stepped back, growling. Goldheart remained useless, the former fyrhund utterly paralyzed with terror. "GIT! GIT!" Roxi screamed again and stepped forward.

The rifle reports echoed through the surrounding area, and she kept firing until he backed away and vanished into the thick brush. She scanned the forest to make sure he'd left for good. Her fingers went numb and she let the practice rifle drop from her hands before staggering back and seating herself on the steps next to Goldheart.

"Good gracious Roxi, what on Earth were you yelling at? Had to chase away a stray?" Brianna inquired from inside. Roxi's heart beat a hundred miles a minute but she nodded.

"Yeah…s-s-something like that…" she stammered a reply. She reached over and wrapped her arms around the Labrador Retriever's neck, pulling him close. "Something's wrong…something's _definitely_ wrong…I…I gotta call Rowen…tell him…something's _wrong_…" She rose to her feet shakily, grabbing the rail for support. She turned to enter the cabin.

She recoiled and yelped in shock. At some point-without her or Goldheart hearing or noticing at all-he'd snuck back around the cabin and tweaked two racks of ribs off the grill.

* * *

Ryo and Whiteblaze proceeded ahead slowly: Whiteblaze with his nose to the ground and Ryo with his eyes to his wrist-com's screen. Tracking-mode allowed him to discern Kento's location, and the screen showed Ryo's red dot very close to Kento's orange. "I don't get it…I should practically be on top of him right now…" Ryo frowned and looked around, making sure he hadn't overlooked something in the surrounding forest.

Whiteblaze's concerned growl drew his attention to the ground and Ryo knelt down beside his companion and rubbed his neck. "Whatcha got there, Blaze?" Ryo whispered. He sucked air in through his teeth when he saw what Whiteblaze had found. He reached down shakily and pinched Kento's fallen wrist-com between his thumb and index finger.

Ryo examined the band carefully. The material looked as if something had torn it in half, but closer inspection revealed that either something had forcefully ripped the band apart…or that something subjected the material to such strain that it simply snapped in two. Ryo swallowed hard. He remembered too vividly the tortured first victim of Lazro Cochran's vile scheming back in Utah…the grief-crazed Gary. Anatole Duncan's expertise had restored the unfortunate man, and successfully reunited him with his family…If the same thing happened to Kento…

Ryo shoved the thought from his mind and stood back up to continue the search. He took a step forward but paused and backed up a few steps when he noticed something stuck in the branches above him. He had to stand up on his tip toes, and even then his fingertips barely grasped the branch enough to pull it down to examine. Ryo spotted what looked like medium-length strands of thick white hair. He fingered one strand that looked as white as sun-bleached bone and peered closely at what looked like a black root.

"Whiteblaze, what do you make of this?" Ryo released the branch and held the strands close to the tiger's nose. Whiteblaze sniffed them and moved both ears forward in alarm. Ryo felt hopeful at first, but he frowned when Whiteblaze took a step back and lowered himself towards the ground. The tiger pressed his belly into the dirt and he drew all four paws under his bulk. The black ears flattened against the broad head and the brown eyes dilated to their fullest.

Never in all the years he'd known the tiger had Ryo seen Whiteblaze _afraid_. Ryo looked at the hairs then over his shoulder then back at Whiteblaze. "…He's…he's that way, isn't he?" Ryo pointed down the path they'd been following. The twitching of the uttermost tip of Whiteblaze's striped tail sufficed as a reply. "Okay...stay here…I'll go on ahead." Ryo turned and continued alone. Ryo's own tracking skills compared poorly to that of a tiger, but he scanned the ground for any possible clues. He noticed strange scratch marks and curious scuffs, but no solid trace.

He stopped abruptly and tensed when he heard the snap of underbrush further ahead. Just then, Ryo's wrist-com beeped. _"Ryo! Ryo, listen! Roxi just called, she spotted him-"_

"Roxi? Am I that far out?" Ryo whispered and glanced around the forest.

"_You're practically in the mountains. Ryo…he might already be too far gone_…"

"No way, we can't believe that! Professor Duncan says we still have time! I think he's close by, but whatever's happened to him, it's got Whiteblaze too terrified to go anywhere near."

"_You want us to move in_?"

"No. Stand by until I call for everyone. If I don't respond in fifteen minutes-"

"_Ryo, you might not have that long! From what Roxi described_-" Ryo ignored Rowen and shut off the connection. He couldn't risk letting the noise give his position away. He crept forward slowly, step by step with the clawnchers loaded with the antigen raised and ready. His gut churned with dread and his mind reeled with horrifying possibilities. He tried to calm his nerves and clear his mind, and his breathing sounded loud like an echo. Ryo turned around slowly as he continued moving and he scanned the surrounding underbrush for any glimpse of his stricken friend. His heart beat like the drums at the Pairing concert, and the cold air of the mountains seemed warmer than the chill that wracked his body.

Ryo went rigid when he realized the breathing that sounded so loud came from something else. He turned sideways very slowly and gazed in the direction of the sound. If the clawncher darts hadn't been affixed to his wrist, he would've dropped them out of shock. "No…please…no…" Ryo took a step back, his eyes widening in horror.

It glanced over his shoulder at him, and the eyes flickered with an eerie white light. A low guttural growl unlike anything Ryo had heard before-not from Whiteblaze, or Raurgoth, or Mal Daggur-escaped clenched teeth. Thick eyebrows the color of sun-bleached bone furrowed in an irritated scowl. Now Ryo knew what had caused the band of Kento's wrist-com to rupture. Now he knew what had ripped open the roof of the grocery truck. Now he knew what left those white hairs with the black roots. Now he knew what caused the scratch and scuff marks in the dirt. Now he knew what Roxi had seen, and what had scared Whiteblaze senseless.

Clothes that had once fit loosely now stretched thread-taut over a body thick with muscle. Sharp ivory-white claws each an inch long tipped each finger. Thick bone-white hair curled over the eyes, bristling around the round cheeks and ears. It stood nearly eight feet tall and mottled sunlight fell onto the light gray-lavender skin. Despite the claws, despite his size, despite the color of his hair and skin, Kento looked fully recognizable as he turned to face Ryo.

Ryo startled when he heard the angry growl and saw the white eyes flicker again. "Whoa! Whoa! Wait! I'm not your enemy!" The transformed Kento splayed his claws and took a step towards him. "I'm not-I'm not your enemy!" Ryo spread his arms out to the side, keeping his hands open and palms down and quickly sank to one knee. "I-I-I'm not your enemy…" He pressed his chest against his thigh and kept his gaze on the ground as words from someone in his past echoed in his mind; clear as if the man still lived and stood beside him now.

"_Stay still. Don't make eye contact…"_ He remembered how years ago, during his sojourn into Africa, he and another man-like himself except much older and much more weathered-had run afoul of a very irate bull elephant. _"An animal will only attack if it perceives you as a threat, or as prey…and contrary to popular belief, humans don't taste that good."_ The immense beast could've easily stomped both their skulls into pancakes. "_Keep your eyes down. Don't look up, not even for a second. A single glance can be interpreted as a challenge."_ Satisfied that the two humans posed no threat to his domain, the bull elephant lumbered off to attend to other matters.

That same tactic Ryo employed now, all but flattening himself towards the ground. He dared a glance forward-not up, forward- and saw Kento's legs as he stepped towards him. Ryo's gaze strayed to the side and he spotted what looked like a pile of bones under a bush; picked clean. He took a sharp breath, but sighed in relief when he noticed the bones had flat edges. They had come from a grocery store…or someone's grill. His gaze snapped back forward when he heard Kento's still-intact soles scraping against the dirt. Kento paused and apparently waited for a few moments before he turned around and walked away, disinterested. Ryo shakily glanced upward out the barest edge of his eye and saw that Kento had his back turned to him as he departed.

_If I shoot him in the arm or leg…he'd just knock the dart off_… Ryo contemplated and slowly drew his right arm across his right knee and just as slowly moved his left arm up to set his wrist against his arm. _But if I shoot him in the back…between the shoulders…he wouldn't be able to reach that far_… Ryo kept his gaze to the ground, so he failed to notice how Kento paused and glanced over his shoulder out the corner of his eye. _It's his only chance…if I can't cure him now_… Ryo took a deep breath and took aim using the barest edge of his vision. _Here goes_… Ryo shot off the first of the three darts carrying the antigen.

The dart whistled through the air. The tines split apart like claws and the needle in the center poked out; the same kind that had knocked Kilhotah out cold and pierced the hides of the victims from the Utah facility. Suddenly, Kento whirled around and brought his left arm up to shield himself. The dart ricocheted off with a loud clang and spun about in the air before dropping towards the ground and sticking into the dirt on the tines.

"H-How'd he _do_ that?!" Ryo stammered, wide eyed in shock. A rattling snarl jerked his attention to Kento, and for a second it seemed as if the gray-lavender skin changed texture slightly. Kento's eyes flared bright and his white hair bristled. Ryo felt a wave of emotions: betrayal, anger, vengeance! "Whoa! Wait! Wait! I didn't-I didn't mean to-" Ryo jumped to his feet and waved both hands desperately. Kento tensed and splayed his claws, roaring like an otherworldly beast. Ryo raised his wrist-com, planning to call in aid.

Kento dropped to all fours and crouched before springing forward in a pounce. He closed the distance with shocking speed, and before Ryo had a chance to react, he found himself dangling above the forest floor with Kento's hands wrapped tightly around his neck. "_If you present yourself as a threat-directly or indirectly-an animal will attack, and it will not stop until you cease being a threat. It will not stop until either you kill it, or it kills you."_

Ryo scrabbled at Kento's hand and lashed out with his legs, trying to strike Kento in the gut, but he felt as if his toes thumped against rock. _He's not an animal! He's my friend! Why do I keep thinking of him that way?!_ "K-K-Ken-to-_urk_ P-P-Please!" Ryo croaked. He managed to open his eyes a crack and stared down the thick arms and into Kento's face. The eyes burned white and he bared his teeth. Judging from the amount of pressure he applied to Ryo's neck, he fully intended to-and easily could-keep squeezing until Ryo's head popped clean off his shoulders. Kento's voice only came out in a steady growl, all reason given over to instinct.

_I'm gonna die…I'm gonna die…my own friend is gonna kill me…and he has no idea what he's doing…_ Ryo's hands slipped off of Kento's arm and hung at his sides limply. He started to black out, thankfully it seemed before Kento tightened his grip to finish the act.

Ryo landed on the ground and collapsed in a heap when Kento released him abruptly. He reached up with a weak arm and patted his throat to make sure it remained intact. He convulsed and wheezed, trying to regain his breath. "Ryo…" Ryo's gaze snapped up when he heard the voice and saw Kento staring down at him. The light had faded in his eyes, revealing the white slit-shaped pupils and white irises. Anger had melted into shock and remorse. Under the curling white bangs, the symbol for Justice flickered brightly. Ryo felt his own kanji respond.

_He's still there_! Ryo remained on the ground with one hand around his throat and the other braced against the dirt. Kento moved as if to crouch down and reach out towards Ryo.

In that instant, Ryo acted on instinct himself and fired three tranquilizer darts point blank into Kento's gut. Kento roared and his eyes burned bright white. While he staggered back and reached down to remove the darts, Ryo sprang to the side and rolled past Kento. He found the dart that had missed its mark and grabbed it then tackled Kento from behind, stabbing the dart into his back directly between the shoulder blades. Kento let out a shrieking bellow and struggled to shake Ryo loose. Ryo yelped when Kento reached back and grabbed him by his armor collar then yanked him forward, sending Ryo flying.

_"Animals aren't tacticians. They don't conserve their energy. They're all instinct; fight or flight. They don't pace their moves."_ Ryo caught himself and regained balance in time to spring back when Kento lunged and slashed, the claws barely missing his face. Kento tensed to pounce, but this time Ryo dove underneath him, skidding on his hip before turning around and raising his left wrist. He shot another antigen dart into Kento's back, just below the right shoulder. Kento roared and whirled around to lunge, and again Ryo barely managed to dodge him.

Kento reacted a lot more quickly than Ryo expected and reached out, grabbing Ryo's left wrist with his right hand. Ryo gasped when Kento reached over with his left hand and closed it around the clawncher mechanism. He began squeezing, and much to Ryo's horror, one of the white claws cracked the casing of the last antigen dart. Kento lifted Ryo up and pulled his left hand back, splaying his claws to disembowel Ryo.

Ryo aimed with his right wrist and shot off three more tranq darts into Kento's chest. Kento dropped Ryo and staggered back to pluck off the offending darts. Ryo sprang back and fired another round, but they merely bounced off of Kento's skin this time. Again it seemed as if the gray-lavender skin had changed texture, becoming as hard as stone. The other darts in his back popped out and fell to the ground, emptied of their contents.

The Lion sub-armor allowed him to just barely keep out of Kento's reach, but Ryo began to notice Kento's swipes becoming increasingly erratic and slower. The white eyes dimmed and Kento's angry snarls gave way to exhausted whines. He made a half-hearted swipe at Ryo-which Ryo easily dodged-before stumbling to a stop and tottering from side to side. Ryo tensed to shoot more darts but hesitated when Kento staggered back until he bumped into a tree. Kento reached behind himself and dug his claws into the bark, clinging to it for support. He let out a pained moan and sank to the ground slowly. Ryo stepped towards him timidly. Kento closed his eyes briefly then opened them and reached towards Ryo.

Ryo watched with anxious fascination as the white claws receded into the fingertips. The hair darkened back to its original shade and the skin brightened to a healthy tone. The slit-shaped pupils dilated and became round and black, and the irises darkened into blue. Kento's pained grimace relaxed as his body shrank to normal size. His outstretched arm dropped to his side limply and he sat there on the ground, glassy-eyed. Ryo felt worried when Kento seemed to have stopped breathing, or moving. Ryo took another step closer, but Kento remained still.

Kento broke out choking and gasping and slumped to the side from exhaustion. Ryo rushed to his side and knelt down to help him. Kento's body shuddered violently and he wheezed, looking in Ryo's direction with unfocused eyes. "R-R-Ryo…? What…what ha-" Kento whimpered and shook his head. Ryo slipped Kento's arm over his shoulder to help him stand.

"It's allright bud. You're back now. It's over," Ryo comforted. Kento faltered but Ryo kept him steady. "Hang tight, Kento. Let's get you back to the Roost so Tar can take a look at you."

"Okay…ow…I hurt all over…Ryo…what did I eat? I feel like I ate a truck…"

"Um…that's because you did."

* * *

He shone the light against the wall a few moments then lowered it. Then he raised the light again and stared at the drawing intently. "I'm having trouble making sense of this image…" Jonathan Proud Wolf lowered the blue lamp again and glanced to the side.

Initially the drawing showed a brawny-looking man with dark hair with arms raised and fists clenched as if in challenge. Under the light, however, the image changed to that of a human figure with similar features except the dark hair had turned light and the skin a color like that of gray marble. The fingertips looked sharp and the narrow triangular eyes white instead of dark. The body looked considerably larger. He waited for the blonde-haired woman to arrive before illuminating the drawing again. She leaned close and squinted.

"If I had to venture a guess…I'd say it looks as if he's…_transforming_…" no more than ten years his senior, Jamine O'Connor spoke with the voice of someone three times her age.

"Doesn't look like any armor I've seen, though I'm not privy to their inner circles. Anubis and Cye are the only ones I'm familiar with in person."

"Well, maybe it isn't armor. You know, the concept of shape-shifting has roots going far deeper than contemporary storytelling and Hollywood. Ancient shamans believed they could transform into animals in order to form a deeper connection with nature. They could predict weather patterns for crops or herd movements for hunts. They could even use such powers to defend their tribes. Some notable examples exist here in North America, in fact.

"Shamans would engage in spectacular duels by taking upon fearsome shapes. Each one vied for control over the rival tribe. The victor would revert to human form, and the loser would remain a beast forever afterward. Some of these duels are recorded in such detail; it's almost as if the author witnessed the battle in person. And who's to say they didn't?

"Many arts once prevalent in ancient times have been lost today. Myth and magic have become blurred by modern fiction. Does it seem like something you should inform your English friend about?" Jamine queried and stood up, brushing dust off her knees.

"He specifically said he didn't want to know about anything else, no matter what."

"Ah, your friend has a steady head about him then. Oftentimes, those with knowledge of what might happen live their lives in uncertainty, and even hasten the very thing they struggle to avoid. Oh I could go on about famous figures in history that've doomed themselves…" Jamine continued talking, citing examples both familiar and unfamiliar to Jonathan. Jonathan listened politely, but scooted further down the shaft and shone the light on a nearby drawing.

This one had a 'hidden' image as well, and it depicted the same brawny man, a man Jonathan had seen in other drawings wearing both Ram-shaped armor and ornate orange-and-silver armor. He stood alone facing a creature that looked very much like a menacing dragon from one of Jamine's stories. A thick shell draped over the back, studded with spikes. A long tail tipped with a spiked club coiled behind the powerful trunk-like legs. A bright orange beard hung from the lower jaw of the rectangular muzzle and white hook-shaped horns curled up from the head.

"In many religions, there happens to exist the concept that in times of extreme need, deities could impart portions of their power unto heroes. In such a way, divine strength was given mortal form. Such physical manifestations were referred to as _avatars_," Jamine mentioned idly.

Without the light, the brawny man looked small compared to the spike-shelled beast. Under the light, however, he came closer to his rival's stature. He held his right arm back with white claws splayed for a slash and held his left arm up to shield himself. The menacing beast had its right arm raised, splaying four fingers tipped with wicked long claws. It held its left arm close to its chest in a loose fist. Curls of brilliant orange seeped out through the interlocking teeth.


	28. The Rune Waters

The Rune Waters

By Mardrena

The clouds boiled away from the heat of passing troopship thrusters. What remained scattered completely in the wake of the white-scaled leviathan. A quartet of troopships fired afterburners desperately trying to stay just ahead of their pursuer. Bru Ranir, aboard the lead ship, stalked into the bridge. "Fools! Do you not know the meaning of the word 'accelerate'?! Cliiiimb!" he roared, glancing nervously at a screen in the control panel showing the enraged dragon titan.

"We're trying! But, it's gaining on us!" the Common at the helm whined.

"It has _wings_, we have engines! Use them! Have the rest of the convoy cover our retreat!" Bru Ranir ordered and moved to the main compartment towards the rear.

Raurgoth beat his wings furiously, but gradually began to fall behind the fleeing ships. Eventually he disappeared behind a thick cloudbank. The Common pilot heaved a sigh of relief but frowned when he sensed a very low echoing boom; feeling it through the hull of the ship and hearing it press against his eardrums. Bru Ranir felt it too and glanced back at the helm. The Common squealed in terror when he saw the dragon titan surge up from the clouds. The air seemed to peel up with him, and he reached up and sunk his claws into the rear-most troopship.

Raurgoth braced one foot against the falling remains of the ruined ship. He raised his other foot and caught a second, using the wreckage as a stepladder. The white claws tore through the hull of the third and sent the ship plummeting. Raurgoth reached up and grasped the rear hatch of the final troopship. The craft jolted violently as the dragon peeled the hatch clean off. A Noble lost his grip on his seat and tumbled screaming into the air and straight into the dragon titan's gullet. Bru Ranir narrowly avoided a similar fate by grabbing hold of a safety rail and digging his talons into the bulkhead. The dragon's mouth yawned wide, eager to devour.

"RAURGOTH! STOP! STOP! Let them go! I think they got the message! Any further and you'll be in outer space!" Raurgoth halted in his ascent. Bru Ranir clambered into the cabin and shut the emergency hatch before the ship began atmospheric exit. Despite his best efforts, fear sloughed from his skin, and all the surviving Commons at the helm smelled it.

Raurgoth hovered in the air and tilted his wedge-shaped head down to look at the tiny winged figure. "What did I tell you about eating Nobles? You know those spikes don't come out of you the right way!" Ryo chastised as he flapped the wings of his White Dragon sub-armor. "That's another thing…how the heck can you stay aloft like that without moving? I can't stop moving my wings without falling." Raurgoth let out a grunting roar. "Thermals? Pfft, like there's a thermal big enough to support _you_…" Raurgoth hissed angrily and bared his killing fangs. "I didn't call you fat, you did. Now come on. We should head home."

The chase had taken them very far across the nation, but rather than just recall Raurgoth and teleport back, Ryo felt like enjoying the trip. Raurgoth sank below him and spread his immense wings to glide, beating them every so often to keep steady. He almost resembled an airliner; massive and tranquil. Ryo glided far above him and squinted against the rushing air. His hair whipped about his forehead and ears, and the sound of wings flapping seemed like music.

"Stretching your wings, are you?" Ryo looked down and spotted Rowen flying below him, maintaining the same speed only he had his arms folded over his chest. "Bak thinks he knows where those ships landed. Come on, I'll race ya to the Roost!" Rowen crowed and shot off ahead. Ryo followed in hot pursuit while Raurgoth coasted over the land idly.

* * *

"Ryo! I heard your champion nearly downed the entire convoy. Very impressive!" Bak Thraplek complemented as Ryo and Rowen entered the comm. room. "Dais and Anubis headed out to round up the survivors. No doubt they'll surrender peacefully after nearly becoming snack food. As for their cargo, it would seem they already unloaded somewhere. We detected two possible locations," Bak pointed to the main screen. Miz Paufan typed away at the console.

"We're cross-referencing the drop points with current maps of the areas, but there's only so much data we can funnel through using Rowen's cute little satellite," Miz sniffed.

"…'cute'?!" Rowen scowled and wrinkled his nose. Two maps came up on screen and Miz superimposed them over the drop points. "Hrm…both look like cave complexes."

"I'll dispatch Sul and the Apprentices to scout the area," Bak stated.

"Nah, you should let us handle it. We're the protectors of the Mortal Realm, after all. How about me and Ryo go check the northern site and Cye and Sage take south."

"C'mon, what am I: chopped liver?" Ryo and Rowen looked to the side as Kento entered.

"Hey buddy. You…you okay to be out and about?" Ryo asked, slightly worried.

"Tar gave me a clean bill of health. Hey, how about Rowen goes with Sage, and I back up Ryo. That frees up Cye to go with Anubis and Dais to take the survivors to Thanged."

"That actually sounds like a better idea," Rowen commented. "For a guy who doesn't get along with most Thangiens, Cye makes a pretty good mediator." Ryo, however, frowned.

"I dunno, Kento. Maybe you should take it easy this time, rest up some."

"Ryoooo, I've _been_ resting up for almost the entire week! I've missed too much action!"

"For good reason! Look, why don't you monitor things here in the Roost. Mia can bring you snacks, and you can just chill out and relax," Ryo offered. Kento bit his lip and looked up at the ceiling, contemplating that approach while tapping his chin.

"Orrr…I can just ignore that and follow along whether you like it or not," he replied with an ear to ear grin. Rowen burst out laughing and smacked a hand against his forehead. Ryo stared at Kento in disbelief before chuckling richly and shaking his head.

"Just like old times, eh? Allright then, it's settled…" Outwardly Ryo smiled cheerfully, but inside worry gnawed at him. Kento seemed almost _too_ eager…

* * *

"Hrm…" Ryo peered through thick brush at the yawning cave entrance. "No sentries…Maybe they only had time to do a quick drop-off before Raurgoth closed in for breakfast." He and Kento wore AnimArmor sub-armor, hoping the clawnchers would prove more effective against Thunthen. The two crept towards the entrance, pausing to check for any potential ambushes. The air seemed naturally still. Ryo entered first, but neither of them noticed the tiny mechanism buried under an innocuous-looking pile of rocks. A lens blinked pale green before going dark.

"Hey…Ryo? Can…can I ask you something?" Kento began. Ryo glanced at him while continuing to move forward. "What…what happened…the other day? What did I-"

"Just drop it," Ryo said abruptly. Kento flinched, startled by the stiff reply.

"But, Ryo! I-" Kento sputtered in protest.

"Don't think about it, okay. You're fine now. Tar made sure of that. Just forget anything happened," Ryo said sternly. Rather than being hesitant to speak, he just didn't want to worry Kento with the account of what he did. Memories reared their ugly heads in Ryo's mind. Kento opened his mouth to protest again but sighed and shut his mouth, looking saddened. He took a breath as if to speak again but shut his eyes and shook his head. Ryo didn't notice and kept his gaze forward on the passage. He took in a sharp breath and crouched then glanced at Kento.

Kento frowned when he saw Ryo's expression, and Ryo nodded at something further down the passage. Kento spotted what Ryo saw; the darkened outline of a Noble's spiked shell poking up from the floor. Ryo remembered how Thunthen slept face-down on the ground, but apparently this Noble had nestled himself into the floor quite snugly, as they couldn't see any of the limbs. Ryo gestured to Kento then the shell and tapped his clawnchers. Kento nodded and readied his own weapons then crept forward, being deceptively silent.

Ryo held his clawnchers ready to pelt the Noble with tranq darts, and Kento prepared to blast the Noble in the face if it proved less than cooperative. Kento moved close enough to kneel down beside the slumbering Noble and reached out to grab the white rim of the spiked shell. "Rise and shine, big boy!" Kento crowed and grabbed the shell then pulled upwards. "GAAAGH!" Kento stumbled back onto his butt and scrambled away from the sight.

The spiked shell tottered from side to side slightly along the rim. Dried blood caked the interior, and what looked to be a few segments of spine clung to the middle. Kento and Ryo stared at the shell wide-eyed in horror. Kento took several shuddering breaths before gulping and opening his mouth, speaking shakily. "Dude…where'd…where'd the rest of him go?"

"I…I think we should call the others," Ryo stammered and began stepping backwards. Kento scrambled to his feet and followed without hesitation. Ryo's ankle moved past the lens hidden in the rock pile. It blinked green once then a few seconds later blinked red. "We need to-"

The two of them looked up sharply upon hearing an echoing crack followed by a hissing pop. Pebbles rained down from the ceiling at first, and then chunks of rock peeled loose and fell in from the walls, cutting them off from the exit. "Cave in! Run!" Ryo and Kento dove back into the passage, barely missing the leading edge of the collapse. Dust showered down from small cracks and more chunks tumbled down from the ceiling. "Damn! They must've booby-trapped it somehow," Ryo hissed and pushed himself to his feet, dusting off his arms.

"Let's port out," Kento suggested and clenched his fists. "ARMOR OF HARDROCK!"

"ARMOR OF WILDFIRE!" They moved their hands and arms in their respective summoning gestures, but only the weakest tendrils of energy flickered around their fingers. "What gives?" Ryo stared at his hand, bewildered as embers fizzled out in his palm.

"Something's blocking our power, but…we've used our armors underground before, right?"

"Unless something's blocking the energy we use from manifesting." Ryo looked at the rock barrier. He stepped forward then clambered onto the pile, crawling up towards where the cave-in met the roof. Kento waited patiently with hands ready to catch chunks of rock as Ryo picked them up one by one and tossed them down, hoping to expose an opening big enough for them to crawl through. The tiniest slivers of sunlight peeked through, and Ryo felt hopeful.

Suddenly, more chunks peeled loose from the roof and sent Ryo skidding down the pile. "No good…it's too unstable. Think you can fix it?" Ryo glanced at Kento.

"I'm trying but… It's like…there's more metal than rock," Kento muttered and walked over to the wall. He placed his hand on the surface and peered close at the glittering substance.

"But, it's still tied to the earth right? Can't you nudge somewhere?"

"Raw ore, maybe, but not this. Something's changed the composition of the rock itself. I can't touch it." Ryo frowned, sensing in the back of his mind that held some significance. "Look, even our signals are being blocked," Kento pointed at the static-snowed screen of his wrist-com.

"Your clawnchers got a lot more kick than mine. Think you can blast through?"

"I dunno. The wrong hit could send the entire mountain crashing down on us."

"Well…Rowen and Sage should know something's up if they can't contact us. We'll just chill out here and wait for help to arrive," Ryo said and began seating himself on the floor. A shower of dust and pebbles from cracks in the ceiling startled him and he sprang back up to his feet. "Or not!" he said nervously as more pebbles tumbled down and cracks widened ever so slightly.

"There might be a passage out the other way. Just gotta keep an eye out for whatever ate that guard," Kento suggested and headed back down the tunnel. Ryo followed, and both held their clawnchers ready as they passed by the empty shell. Ryo paused when he noticed an eerie reddish glow coming from further up ahead. Enough light filtered into the tunnel for them to see by, and when they rounded the bend, they came upon the shore of a lake of red-tinted water.

"Is…is this stuff glowing on its own?" Ryo wrinkled his brow. He'd heard of bio-luminescent bacteria before, but he'd never seen anything like this. "Well…it doesn't look that deep," Ryo commented and took a step towards the lapping water. Kento grabbed his arm and yanked him back suddenly. "Whoa! What gives, dude? I know you suck at swimming but-"

"We can't touch that stuff!" Kento stammered, and his terrified expression surprised Ryo. "That's…that's the same stuff that…that..." Ryo frowned and glanced from him to the lake.

"How can you tell?" Ryo asked, not skeptical, but worried all the same.

"Those…" Kento pointed to further along the shore at a set of plastic-like barrels bobbing in the water. Highscript markings adorned the top, and all three looked cracked. Kento remembered how an identical container had landed on him, exposing him to the chemical that turned both him and Pegasus into mindless giants. "That must've been what the Thunthen tried storing in here, only something happened and it contaminated the water supply."

"We'll wait back in the tunnel then. Come on," Ryo said and turned to leave.

"No…wait, I got this," Kento insisted and looked up at the ceiling. He raised his left clawncher and aimed at a spot over the water close to the shore. He fired once, and the blast tore loose enough rock to form a pile that protruded above the surface of the water. He shifted his aim a bit lower and further back and fired again. He repeated the process several more times, and the rock piles formed a path of stepping-stones.

"Well look at you! The genius!" Ryo beamed and slapped him on the arm with the back of his hand. Kento grinned, remembering a comment Dais had once made. He lowered his arm and sprang onto the first rock pile then hopped onto the next, with Ryo following behind.

He stopped at the last one and aimed at the ceiling to begin the process again. "We'll be out of here and home for supper in no time," Kento gloated as he shot down another rock pile.

Ripples coursed out from the far right wall, and Kento paused in shooting. Movement underwater drew both of their gazes and they watched wide-eyed as a large snaking shadow moved under the surface and looped around the furthest rock pile. Waves rolled away as the huge snaking shadow moved back towards the far right wall.

"…what was that…" Kento asked in a tiny voice.

"I…I think the noise must've upset it…" Ryo whispered. He turned around searching for an alternate path then studied the nearby left wall. He tensed and flexed his fingers then sprang towards the wall, catching the crags just in time to avoid slipping into the lake. His feet found ample toeholds and he secured his grip on the wall. Kento followed his example and they painstakingly crawled along the wall. Ryo remembered Tar's explanation on how the chemical affected rock and this close to the wall he noticed how the surface shimmered with metal.

"There's a bend up ahead," Kento said as he continued scooting forward.

"Yeah, I see it. Let's hope there's solid ground." Chips of metallic rock fell off from Ryo's feet scraping into new toeholds. Small ripples moved from where they plunked into the water.

The sound of surging water drew their gazes to the far right wall and they saw waves roiling as the snaking shadow moved towards them quickly. "Oh man! What the hell _is_ that thing?!"

"Stay still! It won't attack unless we threaten it!" Ryo assured. He'd forgotten the other reason animals attacked; to feed. A huge snake-like form burst out of the lake and reared up to glower with tiny red eyes at the two Ronin clinging to the wall. Exposure to the chemical, even when diluted, had turned a simple cave worm into a carapace-clad monstrosity. Three jaws hinged open, revealing rows upon rows of tiny needle-sharp teeth.

Ryo and Kento opened fire, but Ryo's darts merely bounced off the carapace, which had a metallic sheen to it. Kento's blasters yielded better results and tore out a large chunk of the worm's side. The worm let out a whining roar and thrashed from side to side. "Hah! Take that you over-grown fishing bait!" Kento taunted and pumped one fist while keeping his grip on the wall with the other. He gasped when the worm swayed towards him and plunged its muzzle into the wall. Ryo raised one arm to shield his eyes from spraying shards of rock. The worm pulled back and dove under the water, but when Ryo lowered his arm to look, he couldn't see Kento.

"KENTO! KENTO, WHERE ARE YOU?!" Ryo shouted. His gaze snapped to the surface of the lake when he saw Kento erupt from the surface, sputtering and thrashing his arms. Ryo tensed and sprang away from the wall to land on the nearest rock pile. He reached out with both arms to help Kento clamber out of the lake. Kento coughed and gagged, heaving violently.

"RYO! *_ack_* Ryo, I think I swallowed some of that stuff!" Kento croaked.

"Don't worry! It takes a few hours to reach full effect. We'll get you out of here and back to the Roost so Tar can cure you," Ryo promised and glanced up nervously when he heard splashing.

"No, Ryo…it's gonna happen man. I can _feel_ it…" Kento whimpered.

"You're just nervous. Try to calm down and relax. I think that thing's still alive. My darts didn't scratch it one bit. You're gonna need to use your clawnchers to-" Ryo looked to the side.

Kento screamed, and Ryo had never heard such a scream before, least of all from him. Ryo's gaze snapped to his friend and he watched in horror as the color slowly drained from Kento's hair. Kento gripped his left shoulder with his right hand and his fingers began twitching. His skin faded into a sickly off-white. Spasms of pain wracked his body and his armor started creaking. Kento moved his shaking right hand to his chest and dismissed his sub-armor entirely.

"R-Ryo…shoot me," Kento whispered.

"What?!" Ryo exclaimed in disbelief. Kento reached up and grabbed Ryo's wrist.

"Your darts! You gotta use them…to knock me out!" Ryo yanked his arm away.

"I'm not gonna do that!" Ryo protested.

"YOU HAVE TO!" Kento shouted, his voice taking on a deeper tone. He squeezed his eyes shut and put a hand to his throat. "I almost _killed_ you the last time I turned into that-that thing! I don't wanna hurt you again!" Kento's voice alternated from a pleading whine to a low growl, and Ryo realized then why Kento had wanted to talk to him so desperately earlier.

Ryo glanced from him to the roiling water close to the far right wall. He looked down at his right hand clawnchers and clenched his fist. Kento kneeled on the rock pile and hunched over, whimpering and snarling from the increasing pain. He looked up and saw Ryo aiming his clawnchers, ready to fire tranq darts point blank into his neck.

The two stared into each other's eyes: Kento saw sorrow and reluctance in Ryo's, and Ryo saw the color draining from Kento's irises by the second. Ryo's fist started shaking and he sucked air through his teeth and yanked his arm to the side. "I'm not gonna shoot you, Kento. You're still a Ronin Warrior, no matter what. You're also my friend. I trust you'll remember," Ryo stated firmly and glanced at the far right wall. Kento looked up at him with a mixture of disbelief and gratitude. Ryo glanced over his shoulder at him when a horrible sound reached his ears; wet rasping and whispering cracking. Kento screamed and Ryo could see his face pushing out slightly. The skin looked as if it literally crawled. "Remember who you are! Hold onto yourself, Kento! Hold on to yourself, and don't let go!" Ryo shouted.

"M-My n-name…is Kento R-Rei Faun…I-I am the…Ronin of J-Justice…and the Warrior of E-Earth…" Kento whispered and curled his fingers over his shoulder. The tips of his lengthening nails dug into his jacket. "I-I…AAAAAHHHHGHH!" Kento screamed again, his voice dropping in pitch. He opened his nearly-white eyes and glanced at the water when the surface erupted with a splash. The worm returned to try and devour them once more, and the wound Kento had inflicted earlier with his clawnchers had almost healed completely.

Ryo readied his own clawnchers. If he managed to land some successful shots directly into the worm's gullet, perhaps the drugs would weaken it. The worm's three jaws hinged open wide.

"C-Can't…risk…you getting infected…" Kento growled and pushed himself to his feet shakily, standing taller than Ryo. He reached out and grabbed Ryo by his armor collar.

"Kento! What gives! What are you-whoa!" Ryo yelped when Kento tossed him at the left wall. Ryo dug his fingers in tight and looked over his shoulder. "KENTO! What are you doing!"

"You want something to eat? Come and get me bird-food!" Kento taunted and waded out into the lake to face the worm. It lunged with mouth ready to swallow him whole, but Kento leaned to the side and punched it squarely, crumpling one of the jaws. The worm reeled and shrieked from the blow. It swung its upper body about, and as it came close Kento slashed with his nails. Despite not being fully-developed, they managed to leave shallow cuts in the metallic carapace. Kento raised both fists, intending to club the worm in the head.

A sharp pain in his back sent him staggering to the side, and the worm used the opportunity to swing its tail about and strike Kento in the back and push him underwater. It pulled its tail back and slammed again and again, until nothing rose to the surface; not even air bubbles. "KENTO! NO! You bastard! You killed him! Arrrgh!" Ryo fired repeatedly, trying to aim for the tiny red eyes. The worm took notice of him and slithered over, reaching out with its mouth. It locked its intact jaws around Ryo's shoulders and leaned back, trying to chew on the Ronin Leader. The needle-like teeth didn't breach the primary layer, but the pressure hurt nonetheless. Ryo tried to reach up and fire darts into the worm's mouth, but the worm leaned forward and smashed him back-first into the wall. Ryo scrambled for handholds and pulled himself up before he slipped into the water. The worm deduced where to find softer meat and lunged again.

A spot on the lake surface erupted with violent froth, drawing the worm's attention. It leaned away and peered at the disturbance, and Ryo's eyes widened in a mix of hope and dread. _No…no_… The surface of the lake rose in a bulge before bursting. "KENTO!"

"AAAAAHHHAAAANNN!" Kento-now fully transformed-bellowed a challenge. His eyes burned white-hot with rage. The tainted water of the lake dripped from his claws like blood. Droplets clung to strands of his bone-white hair and rivulets slithered over his gray-lavender skin.

The worm instantly forgot about Ryo, judging the nearly eight-foot tall humanoid to be a more attractive meal. It dove towards Kento, mouth wide and ravenous. Kento ducked then leaned up and socked the worm directly in one of the beady red eyes. The worm squealed with pain and tried to lash with its tail. Kento raked his claws along the carapace, digging deep gouges that oozed with ichor. The worm let out a piercing squeal and floundered about in the water.

Ryo remained clinging to the wall, unable to do anything but watch with awe. On the wall behind him two shadows wrestled viciously. The smaller shadow wrapped its limbs along the long snaking shadow, and the two struggled. *_CRIIICK!*_ Ryo turned away from the gruesome sight as the smaller shape snapped the larger one in two.

The lifeless halves of the worm sank into the lake, and Kento stood there staring at the corpse of his foe. Ryo tensed and sprang over to one of the rock piles. Kento glanced at him; his eyes no longer glowed. He took a step towards Ryo, but Ryo raised his clawnchers in warning. Kento paused and the two stared at each other for a few moments. Ryo couldn't deny how nervous he felt, but he realized how Kento stared at him calmly, almost understandingly. Ryo moved his arm up then lowered both arms at his sides. At the same time Kento trudged towards him and Ryo hopped back a stone to give him room. Kento hauled himself onto the last stepping stone.

"Kento…I'm so sorry, man. This is all my fault! We never should've come here!" Ryo lamented and shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut. Kento shrugged his broad shoulders.

"Eh, it feels worse than it looks…wait…I said that wrong…" Kento frowned and blinked. He looked back at the dead worm. "I guess that explains what happened to the guard."

"Yeah…listen, sit tight here. I'll try and scout ahead," Ryo stated and changed into White Dragon sub-armor. He unfurled the wings and began flapping, but couldn't achieve sufficient lift. "Ugh…the…the ceiling's too shallow. I can't-I can't get high enough!" Ryo's face flushed from frustration. He felt silly flapping his arms so uselessly.

"Don't worry. I got this," Kento said and stepped down into the lake.

"Whoa! Kento! I don't think you should be-" Ryo protested. After seeing what prolonged exposure had done to a simple cave worm, he dreaded what might happen to Kento. Kento didn't seem at all worried and clasped his hands together, taking in a deep breath.

"HHNNRRRGH!" Kento roared and swung up with both fists before slamming down into the water, cracking the floor below hard enough to send it rolling to either side. Rock slid up in a surge, forming a crude ridged pathway. "Heh…didn't think that'd actually work," Kento smirked and stepped up onto the newly-formed path. "This way," he glanced at Ryo and nodded towards the bend up ahead. Ryo had to admit the feat impressed him, but it also unsettled him. He followed quietly nonetheless, and when they reached the bend in the immense chamber, Kento repeated the same tactic and formed a second path leading into the shadowy recesses. Neither of them noticed as the halves of the defeated worm twitched slightly.

"There's a shore up ahead. It's not far," Kento said. As much as they both wanted to rush onto solid land, they still walked carefully; fearful of losing balance and falling back into the water. Kento stepped onto the rocky shore, followed by Ryo who sank to his knees in relief. Ryo looked up to survey the surroundings, but his heart and shoulders fell when he saw an imposing wall spanning the entire length of the chamber. "…Dead end…" Kento muttered.

"Dead end? What? No! There has to be some way out, some other passage! This can't be it!" Ryo staggered to his feet and strode over to the wall swiftly. He placed his hand on the metallic surface and felt along the crags, trying to find even the tiniest opening. Kento moaned in dismay and raked his claws through his white hair. He grunted and glanced at the floor when he heard a sound. Ryo looked over his shoulder at the same time the floor split ever so slightly. Cracks spread out under their feet and chunks of rock dropped into unknown depths. "Sink hole! It's a sink hole! Move! Get off!" Ryo shouted desperately and reached out to grab Kento's thick wrist. The floor collapsed beneath them before either could react and they fell into the newly opened pit. A loud splash indicated they'd arrived in another body of water.

"Ahh! Blech! What the-" Ryo sputtered and shook his head. He and Kento sat in less than two feet of water. A gentle blue glow illuminated the chamber, apparently coming from the water itself. It seemed more inviting than the tainted blood-red fluid from the chamber above.

"Mnnn…wet…" Kento grumbled and shook his head before standing. Ryo also stood and glanced around at the lake. The cavern looked much larger with a higher roof.

"Whoa…who built those?" Ryo remarked when he spotted two identical chambers carved into the far wall. He made out a set of inscriptions carved above the chambers. "My ancient history is a bit rusty…I can't tell what it says." Ryo walked towards one chamber and explored inside while Kento idled in the archway sullenly. "This some sort of shrine…" Ryo muttered to himself and took another step. His foot bumped into something and without warning a curtain of water dropped down from a hidden slot in the arch, drenching Kento thoroughly. Kento coughed in surprise and sputtered angrily and Ryo lifted his foot.

"Whoops! Sorry 'bout that! I think I stepped on some sort of pressure plate or something…" Ryo knelt down and felt under the water. His fingers found the edges of a stone slab protruding up from the floor slightly. "It's a mechanism built into the stone itself…wow…who did this? And how? Huh?" Ryo turned around when he heard low growling. He saw Kento standing in the archway, and his eyes flickered. "Kento? What's wrong?" Ryo frowned, concerned.

"Your fault…" Kento narrowed his eyes and curled his fingers.

"What? Wait, I don't understand. What are you talking about?" Ryo backed away nervously.

"ALL YOUR FAULT!" Kento roared and lunged, eyes flaring brightly. Ryo used the wing tips of the Dragon sub-armor to vault himself out of the way. He landed out in the lake and whirled around while Kento searched for him angrily, momentarily confused.

_I don't get it! He was just fine a minute ago! Why'd he go berserk all of a sudden? Ugh…that stuff messed with him even after we got out of there_! Ryo looked up at the ceiling. _No trace of metal… Would armor work down here?_ Kento snarled and looked over his shoulder, spotting Ryo. _Only one way to find out_… Ryo twisted the insignia of his ring and changed back into Lion sub-armor. "LION!" Lyor answered his call and formed the Lion AnimArmor. Kento lunged and Ryo raised the shield and fired at the water.

Steam billowed up, startling Kento. Ryo fired again and again, moving back each time. Steam hung thick in the air, obscuring vision for them both. Ryo held his breath, weighing options in his mind. He moved slowly, but the ripples radiating out from his legs gave away his position. He gasped when he heard a roar and the steam roiled to the side as Kento charged towards him. Ryo raised his shield intending to block the incoming punch.

He would live to regret that as the blow shattered both the shield and his left arm. "AAAIIIIIIIGH!" Ryo yowled in agony and fell back, landing in the water up to his cheek. Kento stalked towards him, claws splayed and eyes flaring. Ryo propped himself up on his good hand and tensed, waiting for a fatal slash to his exposed neck. Kento halted when he heard a roaring shriek and looked over his shoulder at the hole in the ceiling. Ryo looked up too and saw another giant worm slithering into the chamber. Kento growled and turned to face it. "Rrrr…hate worms…Getting tired of worms!" he growled and trudged away to confront the worm.

Ryo pushed himself to stand with his good arm, keeping his shattered arm close and steady. He could only watch helplessly as Kento grappled with the worm. His gaze snapped to the hole again as a _second_ worm dropped into the lake. "What? Another one!" Ryo noticed a discoloration in the carapace covering the worm's neck. "Eww gross! It grew another head!" The second worm glanced at the first and slithered towards it, wanting a share of the meal. "Hey! Ugly! Over here!" Ryo taunted and waved his good arm. The worm looked at him and opened its mouth wide. Ryo backed up towards one of the chambers and felt around with his heel for the pressure plate. "Yeah, that's it! Come and get me! Hungry? Come on, grade A right here!"

Kento bellowed in rage and flayed off strips of carapace with his claws. The worm retaliated by butting him in the chest with its muzzle, throwing him off balance. While he recovered, the worm closed two of its jaws around his arms. The needle-like teeth sank into the gray-lavender skin. Kento howled in agony and writhed desperately. A rattling growl rose from his lungs and he squeezed his eyes shut in concentration. The worm struggled when it felt its teeth being pushed _out_ of the skin. Kento reached up and grabbed two of the three jaws and pushed them away. The worm tried biting again but Kento side-stepped and slammed its skull with both fists.

The second worm took Ryo's bait and dove towards him. He managed to perform a flip kick despite his busted arm and pushed the worm's head up and back. Ryo pressed his right arm against the worm's neck and held its mouth close to the arch. He tapped the pressure plate with his toe and the curtain of water gushed out from the slot and into the worm's gaping mouth. "Drink up, buddy!" The worm struggled and choked but Ryo held it steady. It gradually fell limp and Ryo released the pressure plate and let the worm slump into the water. He glanced over at the continuing battle between Kento and the first worm.

The worm whipped its tail around and slammed Kento upside the head, leaving a gouge that stained the white hair with red. Kento cried out with pain and staggered back, blinking to clear his vision. The worm darted towards him and he managed to jump to the side in time. He latched onto the worm's neck with both arms and began squeezing tightly. The worm thrashed about, but Kento held fast. Eventually the worm ceased struggling, twitching a few times before finally going limp as Kento suffocated it. He released it and let the lifeless body sink into the water.

Kento let out a heavy sigh and collapsed onto his knees, the water coming up to his waist. He groaned from exhaustion and squeezed his eyes shut, ready to just lie down in the shallow lake and go to sleep. He opened his dimmed eyes when he felt something. Ryo had slipped his right arm around Kento's wide shoulder and tried to help him stand, keeping his broken left arm at his side. Kento looked bewildered by the act and let out a puzzled groan. "Jeez Kento, how much you weigh like that? You're heavier than Whiteblaze," Ryo complained. Kento let out a hearty chuckle but winced from the cuts in his arms. "You allright?" Ryo asked.

"Yeah…uhh…Ryo? Dude, I'm sorry man. I dunno what got into me…"

"Eh, don't worry about it. You couldn't help yourself," Ryo reasoned.

"What about your arm?"

"Well…" Ryo glanced at his left arm. The armor served as a crude splint, at least keeping it stable for the time being. "It's a tossup between 'sack of broken china' and 'crushed gravel'." Kento moaned guiltily. "Eh, it's nothing a good ol' mug of Richtho tea won't fix."

"Ugh! That's gonna be even worse!" Kento grimaced and shook his head.

"What about you? How you feeling now?" Ryo frowned when he saw Kento grimace.

"Still hurts some…it's okay though…feels like a nice hurt…" Kento muttered and slumped forward. Ryo felt alarmed at first but blinked and stepped away when Kento started changing. His face relaxed as his body shrank and his hair darkened. The claws reverted into blunt nails and the skin regained its healthy tone. Ryo saw the pupils change from white slits to round and black. The irises darkened into blue. Kento knelt in the shallow water, fully human once more.

"K-Kento! You…you changed back! But-how?" Ryo glanced from his friend to the water then at the twin chambers. He gasped when he noticed the body of the second worm missing and looked about, worried that it might have recovered. Then he noticed something floundering in the water nearby. He reached down with his right hand and cupped a tiny wiggling form in his palm. He peered close and noticed a thin pale mark around the neck. "I don't believe it…it's the same worm I fought back there…I think the water cured you! These are some sort of healing cisterns…probably built by the Clan of the Ancients!"

Kento remained kneeling in the water and watched patiently as Ryo waded over to the wall. Ryo found a broad-looking crag and gently set the restored worm on it. "Happy trails little guy," Ryo whispered and reached down with his right hand. He cupped some of the water and drank from his palm. It had a peculiar flavor to it; clean and surprisingly cool. Kento blinked and looked down at the surface of the lake. He noticed the waves moving in a certain direction.

"Hey…you feel that? There's a current moving that way," Kento looked up and pushed himself to stand shakily. He spotted a faint glimmer of light coming from a spot by the lower edge of the distant wall. Ryo walked over and they headed towards the promising light, which turned out to be a narrow tunnel carved through the rock. Ryo powered down from Lion armor.

"Here, lemme go first. If I can't swim with my busted arm, I'm gonna need you to push," Ryo commented and crouched. Kento smirked at that remark and waited for Ryo to take a deep breath and go under. Ryo held his left arm close and clawed and scrabbled at the floor of the tunnel, pulling himself forward quickly. The light at the end of the tunnel brightened and Ryo finally burst out on the surface of a small pond. He pulled himself away from the hole and looked down at the passage. He frowned in worry when he didn't see Kento right away, but his friend arrived after a few moments and shook water from his hair.

"I'm way too pooped to armor up and port home…what about you?" Kento asked weakly.

"Negative on that end…" Ryo muttered and raised his wrist-com. It responded with a strong signal. "Rowen? Hey, can you and Sage come pick us up?"

"_Ryo!? Hey! What happened man! We lost contact with the both of ya!"_

"Eh, it's a long story…one I'll wait to explain later…" Ryo sighed and leaned back against the cliff bordering the pond. He glanced down at his left arm and tried twitching his fingers slightly. The arm still felt numb, but didn't burn with pain. He could only hope the water did have some sort of restorative properties and glanced at Kento, who also relaxed against the stone wall. The two remained sitting in the shallows; both relieved to have escaped the caverns.

* * *

"I regret to report that the mission is a wash," Bru Ranir stated as he entered the bridge of the _Nsenagvvik_. "We lost contact with both sentries. Something triggered the failsafe at the first site and it detonated when the passcode wasn't provided. The payload is presumed destroyed at both locations, no doubt by the Ronin Warriors." Mal Daggur sat in his command chair and tapped his claws together, digesting the news quietly. "We could contact Cochran and have him manufacture another batch for us," Bru Ranir suggested.

"I see no reason to trouble him with such a trivial setback. The Ronin would know what to expect regardless…it would be futile to try again." Mal Daggur rose from his seat and walked over to the main monitor of the bridge. "They must be congratulating themselves, I imagine: that they thwarted my plans. They think themselves triumphant…" Mal Daggur clicked his teeth together and cocked his head to the side. "Prepare the _Ramahatesguad_ for atmospheric entry."

* * *

"It's a shame you had to leave so soon," Tar Uhnin spoke aloud in the comm. room.

"_There's still victims from the Utah incident that need treatment. Jackie's always keeping me busy_," Professor Anatole Duncan replied from the main screen. "_At least those two have recovered fairly well from their ordeal the other day. I tested Ryo and Kento, and they're both in the clear, but…well, I noticed an anomaly in Kento. Near as I can tell, it looks like a segment of altered code. Doesn't seem to be anything malignant, but it's just..._there_. I can't make sense of it. Wow, isn't that embarrassing? Thousands of years of recorded history and we Humans know so little about ourselves even today,"_ Anatole chuckled and shook his head.

"You know, underneath all our scales and horns and spikes; our skin is just as pink as yours and our blood just as red," Tar comforted with a friendly smile.

"_I left behind all my files on your systems there, and I'll send over anything new I come up with. Where are the Ronin Warriors now?"_

"They headed out into the city to engage their old foe. Ouagli is very persistent as of late. Rest well on your trip back home, and thanks for all of your expertise. Hopefully we can work together again in the future under better circumstances." Professor Duncan waved a farewell and the signal cut off, turning the screen dark briefly. Tar Uhnin leaned over the console and typed in various commands. He alone occupied the comm. room at the moment, and he called up the medical records Ita Tarmvun had uploaded into the system.

For whatever reason, Kento had insisted on submitting the goofiest-looking photo of himself for his personal record. Tar called up an image of a previous genetic profile then paired it side by side with the image from a more recent test. He ran a scan to test the recent results with the original and the scan paused and beeped shrilly, stopping at the segment Anatole had identified. The altered strand flashed bright red and readouts in Highscript ran across the screen. Tar ran the test again and met with the same response as the scan compared the inconsistencies.

Tar hummed in concern and changed the screen to the communication channel. Frantic chatter filled the open channel. The Elder Ronin had finally been fitted with wrist-coms and the screen displayed their signals in a column along with the younger Ronin. Only Kento's showed up as offline. He frowned and called up Ryo's link. "Ryo! Ryo, I need to speak with you urgently!"

"_Tar?! What is it? I'm kinda busy at the moment!_" Ryo grunted and Tar had an interesting view of the battle through Ryo's wrist-com as the Ronin Leader fended off attacks.

"I take it the battle goes poorly…" Tar drawled.

"_No kidding! Talpa decided to throw us a_-" Tar watched Ryo's wrist move as he plunged his swords into the chest of a Dynasty Droid all the way up to the hilt then pull it out quickly.

"'Curve ball'?" Tar provided and raised a snowy eyebrow.

"_Yeah, one of those. These guys beefed up their armor. It's a lot harder to bust through to the core, and that's not the worst part! Some of them are using energy weapons_!"

"Naz will have his work 'cut out for him', I imagine. Listen, I can't reach Kento on his link. I think his com's been destroyed. I need you to tell him to withdraw from the battle immediately."

"_Excuse me; I'm not sure that I heard you right. You want us to 'withdraw'_?" Ryo paused to dispatch another opponent then glanced at the screen. "_I don't think you understand how we operate, but we Ronin Warriors don't 'withdraw' from a battle until it's over!"_

"I admire your conviction, but such blind adherence to your duty isn't-"

"_THIS ISN'T UP FOR DISCUSSION_!" Ryo shouted sharply and closed the channel. Tar stood there staring at the screen, mouth agape. He thumped the console with his fist.

"_Bhazzak_!" he growled and whirled around and stalked out of the comm. room. He spotted Bak Thraplek by the exit tunnel where he supervised the Apprentices installing security doors. "Captain, I must request use of the sky bikes," Tar stated and made a claw salute.

"Sky bikes? You know those are only to be deployed in emergencies…" Bak said.

"This certainly qualifies as such. We must depart with all haste if we're to prevent something terrible from happening," Tar stated and walked down the tunnel with Bak following alongside.

* * *

Cye heard someone calling his name frantically on the open channel, but he struggled against a Dynasty Droid with green armor trimming. Kento sat off to one side, immobilized from a shot he'd suffered earlier. The soldier had shot some sort of green pulse at his back, but apparently the weapon needed time to recharge and Cye took the opportunity to respond. The two opponents locked glares behind crossed weapons, and the soldier tried pressing forward. Cye stood his ground and slowly turned his weapon about until the blades pointed at the ground. The soldier grunted when Cye swept the blades up, slicing it in half from crotch to head neatly. The core popped out of the chest cavity-still intact- and rolled about on the pavement. Cye saw fit to let it sit there while he walked over to tend to his friend. "You okay, mate?"

"No. I can't move! It's like my legs won't work," Kento complained and struggled to stand. "Whoa! Cye! Behind you!" Kento cried when he saw two more Dynasty Droids arrive. Cye whirled around and dispatched them both quickly with high-pressure water blasts, but Kento felt frustrated at being so helpless. Cye scanned the area checking for any other foes.

"We should port you back to the Roost, have Shannon or Doc take a look at you."

"Nah…I'll be good in a bit…it's like…it's like…ever have your butt fall asleep on you if you've been sittin' down too long?" Kento winced guiltily. Cye rolled his eyes but looked over his shoulder when another pack of soldiers arrived. He dodged the first volley of green pulses and returned fire with water blasts. Kento seethed at being unable to contribute to the battle. He tried to stand but his legs refused to respond. He paused when he felt a curious prickling in his gut. Kento winced and moved his hand to his chest, dismissing his armor completely.

"Kento! What the bloody hell you think you're doin'?!" Cye scolded as he skewered the last soldier. He ran over to Kento and knelt beside him. Kento placed his palm against his brow.

"I dunno man…I just started feeling weird all of a sudden…" Kento muttered and shook his head. He wove his fingers through his dark hair.

"You _need_ to put your armor back on. There's still more of those things out there. If they catch you without armor, you'll get fried!" Cye looked over his shoulder worriedly.

"I wanna…but…I can't…something feels…strange…" Kento closed his eyes and braced his free hand against the pavement. Cye blinked when he noticed something unusual.

"Whoa….Kento…what's up with your hand?" Cye raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Kento opened his eyes and glanced up at him.

"Your hand! Well-look at it!" Cye exclaimed. Kento pulled his hand away and looked down at his palm. He frowned when he noticed the fingers twitching involuntarily. He turned his hand over and studied the tendons on the back then turned it again. He blinked in disbelief when the nails looked slightly longer than before. He curled the fingers and watched closely, and sure enough, they had almost doubled in length. "…what?" Kento furrowed his brow.

The sensation flooded through his limbs and slowly turned into a sharp tugging pain. Kento gasped when it felt as if something tried crushing his wrist, and it felt as if something tried to burst out at the same time. His fingertips ached as if the bones inside tried to break out of the skin. The fingers started to lengthen. "This…this isn't happening…" Kento whispered and closed his eyes and shook his head. "I'm gonna close my eyes…and when I wake up, I'll be-AAAAGH!" Kento pitched to the side when he felt tearing pain in his shoulder. He reached up and clutched his shoulder, but he could feel the bones moving under his skin. He cried out again when it felt like the shoulder blade peeled away and sank down slightly, moving out to the side.

Kento tried to push himself to his knees but fell onto his stomach from another wave of tearing pain. The fabric of his shirt started to stretch over his skin, pulling the collar down past his neck. "T-This isn't happening! This _can't_ be happening! Cye! What's going on!" Kento fretted and pushed himself up with his palms. He glanced down at his hands and saw the nails thickening and turning opaque white. Cye didn't know what to think. He stood up shakily and backed away, watching in disbelief as Kento's arms started lengthening.

* * *

"Rowen, how are things on your end?" Ryo spoke into his wrist-com and glanced at the sizzling remains of the defeated soldiers lying strewn over the pavement.

_"Mopping up the last of'em. WILDCAT's adjusting pretty well to her new body. Sage went to help the Elders since they ran into some bigger nasties. They nicknamed'em 'Destroyers'._"

"Tell'em to get one intact so Naz can take a look at it. Cye, what's your situation?"

_"oh man…oh man!"_

"Cye? Cye, what's going on over there! Cye! Can you give me a reference point?" No direct response, though Ryo thought he heard a familiar-sounding cry in the background. His eyes widened as he remembered what Tar tried to warn him about earlier. He switched to tracking mode and searched for Cye's location. The screen showed him not too far off, and an orange dot pulsed faintly next to the light blue. Ryo crouched and sprang towards the rooftops.

* * *

"Rrrrgh…my head…it…it feels like…like something's tearing it APAAAART!" Kento cried and clamped both hands over the back of his head. He felt like something grabbed his spine and popped it apart then jammed it back together. All over his body ached, his skin burned, and his blood literally boiled inside his veins. He tried to push himself to stand but faltered and collapsed from another wave of numbing pain in his bones. He heard a whispering cracking sound and placed a shaking hand to his chest. Under his palm, he could feel his ribcage expanding and his organs growing within. Kento opened his eyes a crack and glanced at his arms when he became aware of a sharp prickling at his joints.

His skin looked as if it crawled, or rather, something crawled _under_ it. Long shapes like cords of rope shot out from his elbow to his wrist. More cords formed and lashed onto his joints, on his shoulders, arms, all along his back and chest. He felt like something pinched his gut from within and pulled the skin taut. Kento whimpered pitifully and opened his mouth, trying to speak. His nails-now thick sharpened claws-scraped against the pavement.

"Nnnnngh…the pain…make it stop, PLEASE! MAKE IT STOP!" Kento cried, only the voice that emerged from his throat sounded less like the cry of a man and more like the roar of a beast. The bones in his face burned as they pushed forward slightly. He squeezed his eyes shut from the pain, but Cye could see with horrid clarity how Kento's hair brightened from blue-black to gray then into pure white. The hair grew as well, curling around the ears and down the neck. The color of his skin bled into a pale gray-lavender. Kento screamed once more as all over his body it felt as if his bones all popped out of their sockets violently then jammed back into place just as suddenly, and he collapsed onto his stomach on the pavement.

He lay there for a few moments, panting heavily from exhaustion before scooting his palm under his chest and pushing himself onto hands and knees. He opened his eyes and blinked then looked up slowly. Cye saw white irises and white slit-shaped pupils staring at him in confusion. Kento looked down at his left hand and raised it, turning it over and flexing the fingers. He briefly wondered if the large hand really belonged to him, with the thick white claws at the fingertips in place of smooth nails. His gaze wandered from the hand to the arm attached to it then down at his chest. The sleeves of his shirt, which had once hung low around his elbows, now pulled taut up around his shoulders. The collar stretched tightly around his thick neck. The cuffs of his pants hung up around the middle of the calf instead of low around the ankle. He could feel the cushioned insides of his shoes pressing tight against his feet.

"…w-w-what?" Kento spoke, his voice sounding several pitches lower than normal. "No…no! This c-c-can't be happening! This isn't happening!" Kento stammered, his white eyebrows wrinkling in worry. He glanced up when he saw movement and saw Cye walking towards him. "NO! Cye! Stay back! I-" Kento cringed and leaned away. Cye knelt infront of him and reached out carefully, placing his palm between Kento's broad shoulder and neck. Kento looked away, ashamed, and whimpered mournfully. He glanced at Cye with his white eyes.

"This is what happened to you in the forest, isn't it?" Cye asked softly.

"Y-Yeah…but…I'm supposed to be cured. They _said_ I was cured!" Kento whined.

"CYE! CYE! You two okay? What-" Ryo's breath caught in his throat when he saw Cye kneeling next to a fully transformed Kento. Kento glanced at him briefly before averting his gaze sadly. "What?! H-how did this happen?!" Ryo stammered in disbelief and stepped towards them.

"I have no idea," Cye began and stood up to face him. "He started complaining about feeling weird during the battle and then…then that happened," Cye glanced down at Kento.

"We need to get him back to the Roost immediately," Ryo grabbed Kento's arm and tried to nudge him to his feet, but Kento hesitated. Even when standing slouched over, he still stood taller than his friends and it unsettled him. Cye moved to assist and felt the tremors of fear rippling through Kento's body. "Tar! We're coming in. You need to get some of that antidote of yours ready right away. Kento transformed somehow, and he-AAAH!" Ryo cried out when a green pulse struck him in the back and sent him sprawling. Cye whirled around searching for the attackers but a second blast struck him in the chest.

"What is this; yet another Outworlder ally come to join the Ronin's cause?" a Dynasty Droid sneered in contempt. Half a dozen more accompanied it, along with two green-armored ones.

"All Outworlders must die, by decree of Master Talpa," another soldier stated and took aim.

"Ryo! Cye!" Kento gasped when he saw his friends fall. He glared at the attackers and narrowed his eyes. "You hurt my friends…now I'm gonna hurt you!" he growled and tensed to charge. All of the soldiers raised their arms and the gun barrels rose up and started rotating. Kento barely managed to raise his arms in time to shield his face. He heard a sound like metal pinging against stone. The barrels spun empty and the Droids lowered their weapons, surprised to see their target standing there unscathed. Kento opened his eyes and looked down, bewildered upon seeing hundreds of crumpled bullets littering the ground around his feet.

"Whoa…" he lowered his arms and looked at them. He splayed his fingers and the muscle relaxed, but when he clenched his fist the skin drew taut and stiff, almost like rock. "…cool…"

"We will handle this one," the two green-armored Droids stepped forward and raised their palms. Kento recognized them as the same type that had paralyzed him earlier.

"Uh oh!" The energy had affected him despite wearing armor; his new trick wouldn't help now. Kento reached down and grabbed Ryo and Cye by their arms and sprang back to take cover behind a parked car when the soldiers opened fire. He set them down on the sidewalk gently then hunkered down close to the car. A green pulse hissed through the metal no more than an inch away from his face, and another barely missed his shoulder. Kento scowled and ticked off in his mind how many seconds it took for their weapons to recharge.

He gasped and recoiled when bullets riddled the car. The other Dynasty Droids had reloaded their own weapons and all of them poured fire unto the car. _Man! They won't stop until they tear this thing apart!_ Kento tried to come up with a plan of attack, but the more time he wasted doing that, the more frustrated he became. He couldn't feel his eyes glowing, but the light reflected off the car door. He splayed his claws and grabbed the edge of the car, tipping it onto the side. He ignored the rattling growl that came out of his throat and sunk his claws into the undercarriage. The soldiers stopped shooting and watched awestruck as Kento rose to his full height, hefting the car above him. He paused briefly, himself surprised by the feat.

_Whoa! I can't believe how strong I am! I barely feel like I'm holding anything!_ "Here! Catch!" Kento bellowed deeply and hurled the car, crushing two of the standard soldiers and one of the 'stun' Droids. While the surviving soldiers recovered, he took a moment to clench his fists and flex his arms. He could _feel_ the raw power inside his limbs. _Hey, I kinda like this_… Kento grinned and turned his attention to the remaining soldiers.

Planning took way too much precious time. Something else encouraged him to act and guided him as he attacked. He crouched and sprang to the side, avoiding a stun pulse and tackling one of the regular soldiers. He splayed his claws and tore its face clean off with a savage swipe. He looked over his shoulder at the remaining two and growled. He lunged and drove his arm through the chest plate of the last stun Droid and closed his fingers around the core processor, crushing it with ease. Then he seized the last soldier and crushed its neck, breaking the hidden relay tucked below the armored collar. Kento let out a triumphant shout that sounded more like a roar and glanced from side to side, searching for more foes.

Ryo and Cye began to stir, recovering from the effects of the stun pulses. Ryo propped himself on one elbow and shook his head to focus his vision. He looked up in time to see another wave of Dynasty Droids descend, accompanied by a much larger version. It had gold crests and sported much heavier weaponry than its fellows; apparently one of the 'Destroyers' the Elders had encountered earlier. Cye also sat up and gasped when he spotted Kento standing alone against the attackers. The transformed Ronin Warrior looked eager rather than intimidated. His white eyes glowed brightly and his white hair flared like a mane.

Kento curled his fingers, feeling the claw tips scrape against his palms. The Dynasty Droids arrayed themselves around him, planning to attack from all sides. The big Destroyer stood almost as tall as he did, and that fact enraged Kento for some reason. Kento narrowed his eyes and took several deep breaths. His lungs tickled and his breath rattled in his throat. An echoing growl escaped clenched teeth. The soldiers prepared to fire, and Kento tensed, bunching his shoulders.

He threw his head back and let out an echoing roar. The Dynasty Droids staggered back and writhed as if in pain. Ryo and Cye collapsed to their knees and clamped their hands over their ears. Every nearby surface from the entire block vibrated and loose object skittered. The soldiers started to recover and one of them looked up in time to see Kento grab its face and crumple the visor in his fist. A nearby soldier opened fire but Kento used his first victim's body as a shield and flung the bullet-riddled wreck at it, startling it enough for him to grab its arms and rip them out of the sockets. He let out a snarl and crouched, lunging with incredible speed and bringing down two more soldiers. The bulky Destroyer tried to get a fix on the transformed human, but each time it lined up a shot, Kento would spring away and dispatch another soldier.

In a matter of seconds, he'd taken out nearly a dozen Dynasty Droids quite literally with his bare hands. Only the Destroyer remained, and it stood facing him; shadow-covered visor meeting flaring white eyes. The Destroyer raised both arms and fired two powerful energy blasts. Kento ducked down, letting the blasts whistle overhead to strike a distant wall. He dropped to all fours and sprang towards the Destroyer, pouncing from side to side to avoid successive blasts.

Despite not having a face capable of expression, the Destroyer looked quite surprised and very much afraid when Kento grabbed it by the shoulders and bore it down under his weight, slamming its back against the pavement. Kento slashed at the reinforced chest plate and tore off the outer layer. He slashed again and ripped off another piece. He kept slashing repeatedly with both arms, flaying away piece after piece of metal. All the while his eyes burned bright.

"Whoa! Kento! Stop! Stop!" Ryo's left hand gripped Kento's right wrist as he raised his arm to slash again. "I think you killed it! It's dead already!"

Kento snarled angrily and glared at Ryo over his shoulder sharply. Ryo recoiled and released his grip on Kento's wrist at the same time Kento blinked in surprise. The glow in his eyes dimmed abruptly and he stared up at Ryo, stunned. His gaze wandered to his raised hand and he saw the large fingers tipped with claws. He remained staring at it silently for a few moments then looked down at his left arm. He'd torn through the chest cavity of the Destroyer so thoroughly; the claws on his left hand scraped the pavement underneath. Kento stared at the sight in disbelief and slowly drew his hand out of the ragged hole. He staggered to his feet shakily and staggered away from the wrecked body. At some point during his attack, he'd knocked the core out and sent it flying somewhere, since the body didn't disintegrate right away.

"No…no…" Kento whispered and shook his head, looking down at his gray-lavender skin and long white claws. He began whimpering and his shoulders started shuddering from short rapid gasps. "No…no…no…NNOOOOOAAAARRGH!" Ryo and Cye had to cover their ears from the echoing cry. Kento collapsed to his knees and placed his palms on the pavement. "NO! I don't want to be like this! This isn't who I am! This isn't me!" Kento struck the ground with his fist, sending cracks radiating through the asphalt. He sniffled and wiped streaming tears from his eyes with the back of his knuckles. "This isn't me…" he whimpered and squeezed his eyes shut.

Ryo looked over his shoulder when he heard the whine of an engine and saw two small craft land nearby; Thunthen sky bikes ridden by Bak Thraplek and Tar Uhnin. Bak looked shocked and Tar looked dismayed. Cye gasped when he noticed Kento's skin changing color. The four of them watched in awe as Kento's body shrank. The claws receded and the hair darkened.

"R-R-Ryo?" Kento asked in a pitiful whine and looked up at his friends. His pupils darkened and dilated as the irises regained their original color. "What's wrong with me, man?" he wept.


	29. Avatar of Justice

Avatar of Justice

By Mardrena

His eyelashes brushed against the floor when he blinked. He let out a faint groan and peeled his cheek away from the rock as he pushed himself up with his palms. It felt as if gallons of water sloshed around behind his eardrums. His eyes fluttered open but he only saw colored blobs. He grimaced and reached down towards his chest when he felt a stinging pain. His vision sharpened enough for him to see five cuts in the chest plate. Blood glistened on his fingertips. He looked up again and saw over half a dozen orange-skinned figures struggling to restrain a single person.

He remembered everything that had happened up until now. _I should've listened to Tar…_

* * *

"I can't help but feel that these newer models were designed with _us_ in mind," Naz Dassyr commented from where he crouched beside the sets of large metal remains spread over the floor by the exit tunnel. "The 'Dynasty'…they haven't actually _seen_ us, have they?"

"They might've seen our fight with Mal Daggur and guessed what you look like from him," Rowen shrugged. "It's hard to miss your arch-enemy getting creamed by an alien warlord."

"The Elders certainly 'did a number' on them, hmm?" Naz remarked as he studied the wrecks.

"Dunno. Ryo just told me where to find them and WILDCAT helped me carry them home," Rowen said. WILDCAT herself lay off to one side batting the disembodied core processor from the large Destroyer between her metal paws, being mindful not to damage it. She nosed it about the floor playfully. "Anubis says Talpa's using dark magic to power their weapons."

"Rowen," Naz began in an exasperated tone and rose to his feet. "There's no such thing as 'dark magic' or 'light magic'. Energy is energy. A man in a powdered wig figured that out centuries ago on your world." Rowen rolled his eyes at the remark and shook his head. "I wish I could make a more thorough examination, but I need access to my equipment and Tar insists on monopolizing the infirmary at present. Do you know what's going on in there?"

"I have no idea. Ryo sounded real worried though…" Rowen glanced at the infirmary.

"What do you MEAN 'he wasn't infected a third time'?" Ryo paused in pacing near the wall.

"The chemical is _not_ present in his system. We tested both of you after escaping the caverns and both tests came up negative. Before he left, Professor Duncan said-" Tar Uhnin began.

"What am I…" Ryo, Cye, and Tar looked to the lone figure sitting hunched over on one of the beds. Kento had his hands clasped between his knees and tilted his gaze up from the floor. His eyes looked glassy and lost. "What am I?" he asked in a hoarse whimper.

"Kento, near as preliminary tests show, you're still human, it's just-" Tar tried explaining.

"What?!" Kento sprang off the bed and lashed his arm to one side. "You call that-that _thing_ I turned into _human_?!" he sputtered angrily. The machines nearby beeped, measuring his agitation via the small sensors Tar had stuck onto Kento's neck and wrists. Miz Paufan stood close by and jotted notes on a tablet, while Bak Thraplek stood by the wall, observing.

"Kento, please be patient. Even though the chemical is not in your blood, it's effects on-"

"WHY are you telling ME to be patient!? I have no idea what's happened to me and you sound like you don't either!" Kento shouted and clenched his fists. Tar-whose beard looked like it had turned whiter over the course of the past few days-sighed and walked over to where Miz and Bak stood. He grabbed the large mobile monitor and swiveled it around for Kento to see.

"Do you know what this is?" Tar asked and pointed at the images displayed.

"…it's a squiggle," Kento replied and shrugged. Tar sighed and scratched the scaled ridge between his nose and eye. Miz made a soft "Oy" and shook his head. Bak elbowed him roughly.

"That 'squiggle' defines everything about you; what you look like, how you act." Kento listened, looking even more confused than before. "A tiny portion of that 'squiggle' has been altered in such a way that it apparently causes you to transform under certain conditions."

"…but…there's a way to fix it…right?" Kento croaked uneasily.

"It's too early to tell at this point. Such effects on a living being is-is _unprecedented_. It isn't as easy as just taking things apart and putting them back together..." Tar let his mouth hang open and averted his gaze. "…actually, it _is_, but it's 'easier said than done'. A case such as this could easily take years, _decades_ even to begin to comprehend let alone-"

"Perhaps there is something in magic that can unveil what science cannot," all eyes turned to the doorway and Ryo stepped to the side to make way as Kayura entered the infirmary. She cast a cool glance at Tar, keenly aware of how the Thunthen scoffed at the Ronin's reliance upon magic. Tar met her gaze and watched quietly as she walked over to Kento. "I can use a divination ritual to gain a deeper understanding of what ails you, but I need you to try and clear your thoughts," Kayura instructed and placed a palm against Kento's forehead. Kento nodded shakily and closed his eyes. "Open the doors to your mind…grant me passage that the truth might be revealed…" The two Nobles and Miz watched intrigued when the rings on the Staff began moving. Ryo and Cye watched anxiously and Kayura closed her eyes in concentration.

_She opened her eyes and found herself in an environment that seemed entirely composed of dark purple mist. She glanced from side to side then looked forward. The mist began to part and she tilted her head up to see. She gasped when she saw what her palm rest against._ "Well, what do you see? Kayura?" _he asked in a slightly deeper version of his normal voice. He opened his eyes and stared down at her with white irises and white slit-shaped pupils. He initially stood hunched over but rose to his full height when Kayura withdrew her hand and stepped away shakily._ "What's wrong? What do you see?" _he asked, furrowing bone-white eyebrows in a concerned scowl._ "Kayura?" _She stared up at him, utterly speechless._ "Kayura?" _Without warning, he bared his teeth in a snarl and his white hair bristled like a mane. His eyes flickered with white light and he splayed the thick white claws._ "ANSWER ME!" _he roared_.

"AAAHH!" The rings ceased clanging and she found herself in the infirmary once more. Kento stood infront of her looking confused and concerned, but otherwise perfectly normal.

"Kayura? What's wrong? What did you see?" Kayura shuddered involuntarily from Kento's question and shook her head, looking shaken.

"They are one and the same, the same in the one…" she whispered hoarsely, her gaze unfocused. She blinked several times and glanced from Kento to Tar then to Kento again. "I-I cannot remove this from you. This…This is beyond my skill…" Kayura stammered and took a step away. Tar let out a derisive snort and rolled his eyes. Kento hobbled over to the wall and placed his right hand on a crag while letting his left arm hang limply. His gaze darted about.

"So you're saying," he began then gulped. "There's nothing you can do…or _will_ do…to get this thing out of me?" he drew air in through his nostrils and set his jaw.

"There's nothing we _can_ do, not yet at least. It will take time, and you must be patient-"

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Kento shouted, interrupting Bak. He clenched his left fist and stepped away from the wall. "Do you have any idea what it's _like_ knowing that you have this-this _thing_ inside of you?!" Kento lashed his right arm through the air. "This is _your_ fault in the first place! You didn't do a good enough job curing me to begin with!"

"Kento, in all honesty, I don't think you fully understand the severity of the changes you've gone through," Bak said sternly, taken aback by Kento's outburst. "This will take resources we do not currently have. I can consult my contacts on the home world, but-"

"That's no excuse!" Kento shouted again and struck the wall with his right fist. "I want this thing out of me NOOOOOOOOOOOOWW!" he part-growled, part-screamed through clenched teeth. He convulsed slightly and squeezed his eyes shut. At the same time, Miz noticed a change in the readout of the monitoring equipment. The steady beep turned into a quick one.

"Kento, you need to stay positive. We haven't asked the Thangiens yet. Maybe they know a way to cure you," Cye comforted. Tar grimaced and opened his mouth to speak, raising a claw.

"You can't lose hope so quickly," Ryo interrupted. "Come on, what's this I'm hearing from you? The Kento I know doesn't know the meaning of 'giving up'," Ryo teased gently, trying to cheer Kento up much the same way the Warrior of Earth had for others in the past.

"The Kento you know is about to sign off, dude…" Kento whispered and bowed his head. Miz frowned and glanced from the machine to Kento. The quick beep turned into a shrill one.

"Captain…is…is it _supposed_ to be doing that?" Miz whispered to Bak, who turned around.

"No…no it is not…Tar," Bak whispered and nodded at the screen. "Take a look at this." Tar frowned and walked over to peer at the readouts before glancing at Kento. At first glance, the Ronin Warrior looked perfectly still. The jagged lines on the screen almost resembled a flat line.

"Kento…are you…are you allright?" Tar asked warily.

"Am I allright?" Kento growled through clenched teeth. "Am I allright?!" He struck his right fist against the wall again. "DO I LOOK ALLRIGHT TO YOU?!" he screamed then doubled over and grabbed his shoulders. His voice alternated from a pitiful whimper to a frustrated snarl. Kento tilted his head up and they heard it; a deep rattling growl. His pupils had turned white.

"He's-he's _changing_! Tar gasped. Bak shouted something into his gauntlet communicator. Cye darted forward and grabbed his friend by the shoulders.

"Kento! No! Stop! Calm down, please! Don't _do_ this to yourself!" Cye pleaded. Kento glared at him then backhanded Cye hard enough to send him skidding across the floor.

"Kento! That's enough!" Ryo shouted and stepped forward. "Get a hold of yourself! You're a Ronin Warrior; you have no business behaving like this!" Kento scowled and Ryo gasped when he saw eyes glaring at him that no longer belonged to a rational man. Kento snarled and lunged, slashing Ryo across the chest with his sharpened nails and sending him crashing back-first into the wall. Ryo let out a sigh and sank to his knees before collapsing onto his stomach.

"Kento! Please, listen to reason! We're not your enemies!" Kayura protested.

"Stand back Gauraax Kayura!" Rgn Chorrez warned as he ran into the infirmary, followed by Koi Udsarrin and Ita Tarmvun. "He's no longer himself!" Rgn placed himself between Kayura and the transforming Kento and took a deep breath. He pitched forward and expelled a stream of steaming liquid that covered Kento's chest, legs, and upper arms before solidifying into ice. "That should hold him for now…" Rgn muttered and rubbed his nose. A rasping crack echoed through the room as the ice shell began peeling away in chunks. "Or not!" Rgn gulped and stepped back as Kento shrugged himself loose from the ice. All the while his body jerked as it continued growing. He scowled at Rgn but a spasm of pain sent him reeling, and Koi used the opportunity to wrap his arms up around Kento's shoulders and lift him off the floor.

"Tar, fetch the nerve deadener. Hurry!" Bak ordered, and Tar dashed out of the infirmary. Kento squirmed and kicked frantically. Color drained from his hair and he roared deeply.

"His roar…don't let him roar! He'll knock us all down!" Cye warned Bak.

"Koi, compress his ribcage! Don't allow him any more breath than he needs to stay conscious!" Bak ordered. Koi obeyed by moving his right arm down over Kento's chest, releasing Kento's right arm in the process. Kento reached up and tried to rake Koi across the face, but Koi managed to lean away from the sharpened nails just barely. "Ita, bind his arm!" Ita sprang up and draped herself over Kento's right arm and spat off a stream of Thunthen curses. She hooked her left arm around his upper arm and grabbed his wrist with her right hand.

Kento's legs had grown enough to where his soles touched the floor, and he began leaning forward with great effort. Koi let out a worried hum when he felt his feet leave the floor ever so slightly. Bak shouted something in Thunthen and Naz Dassyr entered the infirmary. He and Rgn ran behind Koi and grabbed hold of two of the large spikes close to the shoulders. They hauled themselves up and braced their feet against the lower rim of the large shell, weighing Koi back down enough to keep Kento off-balance. "Miz! Stagger him!" Bak ordered, and the little Common darted forward and curled around Kento's ankles, hooking his arms under his knees.

"Kento, please calm down!" Cye begged. Kento let out a strangled roar.

"I think that's just making him angrier," Miz grunted.

"It's not just anger…he's afraid, more than anything," Kayura muttered. Cye glanced at her.

"Isn't there something you can do to reach him? Bring him to his senses-?"

"Cye, I wish I could, but I can't," Kayura lamented. Cye opened his mouth to protest, but Kayura looked at him desperately. "This isn't a spirit I can purge, or a curse I can dispel! This is something affecting his very _being_. I-I-I have no power over something like this!"

The two of them looked behind them when they heard a moan and saw Ryo stagger to his feet. "Ryo! You're bleeding!" Cye exclaimed when he saw five gashes through the chest plate and blood trickling out through the cuts. Ryo winced and covered the wound with a hand.

"Don't worry about me. Kento, is he-?" Everyone in the infirmary flinched when Kento threw back his head and belted out a mournful wail. They all sensed it; terror, despair, anguish-The urge to run to the top of the nearest mountain and scream at the sky until he could scream no more.

Ita squawked in protest when Kento lashed his arm to one side enough to cause her to slip right off his arm, sending her sprawling. Kento reached up and dug his claws into the thick scaly flesh above Koi's right eye. He scratched repeatedly, carving bloody gouges through the orange skin and gray eyebrows. Koi grunted irritably but refused to release his grip. Ita scrambled back to her feet and sprang back up to grab Kento's wrist. Her tail dangled above the floor.

Kento managed to steady his legs and brace his feet against the floor. Much to everyone's shock, he began lifting Koi off the floor once more, along with Naz and Rgn. Tar dashed back into the infirmary and tossed something to Bak before running behind Naz and Rgn. He grabbed their shell spikes and added his weight to their own to stabilize Koi. Kento bellowed in rage and writhed furiously. "Hurry, Captain! Koi can't hold him much longer!" Miz cried. Koi had to keep readjusting his grip. Bak raised the pistol-like device Tar had thrown him and took aim. The nerve deadener could paralyze anyone in its line of fire; Koi and other Nobles included. Bak began to squeeze the trigger but paused and glanced at the humans. "What are you waiting for?!" He saw Cye distraught, Kayura horrified, and Ryo full of sorrow. "Captain? Captain?"

"…I will not be the tyrant here…" Bak whispered and sneered before tossing the weapon aside, sending it skidding over the floor until it clacked against the wall.

"CAPTAIN! NO!" Miz cried. Bak ran forward and placed his hands over Kento's shoulders.

"Kento, listen to me. _Listen_ to me!" Kento growled and struggled despite Bak's entreaty. "You are still human-you are _still_ human! You have a human heart and you have a human self. In here lies your heart!" Bak moved his left hand over Kento's chest. Kento roared and glared at the Noble. "In here lies your heart! Emdourhichtai! Emdourhicthai!" Kento let out another shrieking roar of despair. "EMDOURHICHTAI! EMDOURHICHTAI!" Bak shouted repeatedly. Kento continued writhing and he glared at Bak with burning white eyes. "EM-DOUR-HICH-TAI!" Bak bellowed. Kento ceased struggling and his breath rattled in his lungs as he panted heavily. "Emdourhichtai…" Bak hissed. Kento's eyes dimmed gradually. He stood at eye level with the Thunthen captain, and they stared at each other for several moments.

"…B-Bak?" he croaked and blinked several times. His expression relaxed slowly.

"Yes," Bak replied gently. "It's allright, Koi. You can release him. He is himself again." The mighty Rare scowled in concern but obeyed the order and let go of Kento, who swayed on his feet. Naz and Rgn hopped off Koi's shell and guided him towards the back of the infirmary, and Tar ran infront of him to inspect the injury to his right eye. Ita released his arm and glared at him. Miz unwrapped his body from Kento's legs and scrambled away as Kento sank to one knee.

Kento glanced down and looked at his right hand and saw the white claws caked with blood and bits of orange and gray scales. He looked over his shoulder and saw Koi's ragged eyebrow. Kento raised his left hand and saw blood staining the tips of the claws. He looked up and saw Ryo covering his chest with one hand. Blood glistened from five scores in the chest plate. Kento glanced back at his hands once more and curled his fingers before sitting back on his heels.

"…what have I done?..." Kento squeezed his eyes shut and slumped forward. "Aww maaaan…what have I done…" he whimpered hoarsely and hunched over crying. He knelt there on the floor sobbing profusely, and Ryo, Cye and Kayura watched sympathetically. Kento's cries became snarls as his body jerked while he slowly changed back to his original form. He sensed movement and glanced up shakily when he saw Bak Thraplek kneeling before him.

"Kento, I swear to you: myself and my crew will do everything in our power to try and restore you, but it will take a long time, and a lot of hard work, and for that, you must be patient. Try to understand…" Bak said softly. Kento blinked tears from his eyes and nodded. Bak patted him on the shoulder gently and stood back up then stepped to the side as Cye ran over and knelt beside Kento, trying to comfort him. Ryo stubbornly refused aid from Kayura, more concerned about Kento. Never before had he seen Kento so outright terrified. The Ronin of Justice knelt there on the floor shuddering violently despite Cye's efforts to console him.

"Koi weighs as much as any three of us," Bak looked to the side when he heard Ita speak.

"He was able to lift the weight of six full-grown Nobles _combined_! Can you imagine such terrible strength?" Miz whispered. Bak scowled and turned around.

"I trust the two of you have something better to do than stand around gossiping," he hissed. Miz ducked his head and walked out of the room meekly, followed by Ita. Rgn and Naz remained with Koi. Bak looked at Kento and frowned. "Mal Daggur, what have you wrought…"

* * *

Ryo slouched on a stone bench with his back against the conference table. He had powered down and peeled off his shirt and pressed a single Richtho leaf against his chest. He looked up when he heard footsteps and saw Cye standing by the doorway. "How is he?" Ryo queried.

"How do you think? He's bloody terrified! Not just of himself, but what he almost did." Cye walked over to stand close to Ryo and folded his arms over his chest. "I can't stand seeing him like this. You know how he is? He _always_ tries to make the best of a bad situation. Even in the Dynasty Wars, he always looked on the bright side of things. Now…this has him _really_ shaken up. Kayura's the strongest mystic we know; if _she_ can't help him, what _can_? I keep wondering if there's something we could've done…"

"Even Professor Duncan didn't know what would happen until it was too late. He knows more about this sort of stuff than even Tar. There's no way any of us could've seen this coming."

"I suppose you're right…speaking of, Tar said he wanted to talk to you in the infirmary," Cye said and nodded to the doorway. Ryo nodded and stood up from the bench. He peeled the leaf away and saw that the cuts had fully healed and summoned back his sub-armor. The grooves in the chest plate had repaired as well. He walked out into the main cavern and headed for the infirmary. Kayura stood towards the back of the chamber tending to the trough that had been set up to grow Richtho bushes. Danae had taught her how to grow them indoors and set up an array of reflective panels to provide light. Kayura snipped off the largest of the leaves and placed them into moist towel wrappings. She glanced at Ryo when he entered but remained quiet.

"Cye said you had something you wanted to talk about?" Ryo said as he approached Tar. The elderly Noble glanced at him wearily and pushed away from his worktable.

"I am ceasing to believe it was so much the chemical remaining in Kento's system as it was his body _retaining_ it," Tar folded his arms over his chest and tapped his claws against his arms.

"You said so yourself this stuff wasn't meant to be used on a human. You can't blame-."

"That's just it, Ryo!" Tar looked at him sharply. "He should've _been_ cured the _first_ time!" Ryo frowned but remained quiet as Tar seemed to struggle for words. "Humans are very adaptable. Ander had a saying for it: 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger'. For all intents and purposes, the counteragent _should_ have worked the first incident. It _should_ have worked after the caverns, yet it did not, and I find myself afraid to believe the other possibility.

"…We Thunthen do not believe as Humans and Thangiens do. We do not believe in a Heaven, though we have a sort of Hell for dishonored dead…we do not believe in a soul, per se, but rather in a concept. There is the Self; what we are outwardly. Then there is the Un-self; what we should not and cannot be, yet it is the part without which we cannot survive."

"The alter-ego?" Ryo provided cautiously. Tar nodded and pursed his lips.

"Yes…that would be the closest thing, I suppose. Lastly there is the Inner Self; a sort of 'ideal' self. It is what makes you so virtuous, what makes Mal Daggur so ruthless. It is believed that in very rare cases-so rare, in fact, that I have yet to have seen a case thus far in my lifetime- that the Inner Self can manifest through means of a physical transformation…we call such a thing an 'emdourachil'. I think the closest word in your language would be 'avatar'…

"I'm…not…sure I follow…" Ryo narrowed his eyes.

"Don't you see? This wasn't something that was _done_ to Kento. This was something that was _awakened_ in him! Somehow his body managed to adapt quickly enough that it-."

"Okay, stop! Stop right there!" Tar held his hands by his waist and stared at Ryo. "I know what you're trying to say, and you're wrong! Kento isn't like that! He's human! _Your_ people created this stuff, _you_ fix it. I don't care _how_ long it takes, I don't _care_ what you have to do to find a way, just do it!" Ryo snapped and pointed at Tar.

"…Ootonim," Tar said tightly and scowled. Ryo knew what the word meant: "I obey", but he didn't have the patience to worry about hurting Tar's feelings. None of them noticed how another pair of blue eyes had watched the entire conversation from outside in the main cavern.

"Tar…?" Kayura asked softly after Ryo left the room and stepped away from the trough.

"WHAT?!" Tar whirled around, clearly upset. Kayura flinched but approached him cautiously.

"I-I'm sorry, it's just…please…tell me more about these beliefs of yours." Tar's expression softened and the scientist and the mystic regarded each other quietly.

Ryo stormed into the main cavern but paused when he saw someone sitting hunched over atop the Wall Boulder. Kento wore plain clothes and had his arms folded over his knees. He stared at the floor despondently. "…There's no kitchen down here," Ryo smirked.

"Eh, I just feel safer…must be something about the rock…besides, Mia kinda sorta ran me off when I kinda sorta cleaned out the fridge," Kento said sheepishly and rubbed his left ear.

"How you feeling now?" Ryo asked softly. Kento fidgeted in his seat.

"Eh…about as good as can be expected I suppose…given my condition…" Ryo bit his lip but said nothing. "Um…how's…how's Koi?" Kento asked guiltily and glanced at Ryo.

"Miraculously, you managed to not blind him." Kento gulped and averted his gaze. "It's nothing a few Richtho leaves won't fix," Ryo added reassuringly and turned to leave. "I'm heading topside…Rowen's in the comm. room if you need anything."

"I heard what Tar said," Kento stated abruptly. Ryo paused and turned back around.

"Do you believe any of it?" he asked and frowned.

"I didn't want to at first…but…the more I thought about it, the more it started to make sense. I mean," Kento looked at him and smirked. "We all know how easily I can fly off the handle…"

"Not like that. You're not that way," Ryo argued softly and shook his head. Kento looked like he had trouble believing otherwise. "Look, Kento, you can't keep beating yourself up over what happened. You had no idea what you were doing," Ryo said and turned again to leave.

"I knew…exactly…what I was doing…" Ryo stopped and turned back around, frowning.

"…What?" he whispered and scowled. Kento looked terrified and remorseful.

"I was…fully aware…of what I was doing…when I was…like that. Like…in the forest…"

"I thought you said you didn't remember anything," Ryo walked over to the Wall Boulder.

"I didn't! At first…but afterward…I started getting these…flashes. I-I-I remember...holding you by your neck! I _wanted_ to kill you, right then and there!" Kento looked at his hands.

"Well…I _did_ shoot you…" Ryo admitted. Kento scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah…but, even today, I remembered everything! All I could think about was getting as far away from everyone as possible! I wanted to be anywhere but here!" Ryo hauled himself upon the crags and seated himself beside him. "I kept fighting to get away, because I knew nothing could stop me! That strength, that power I had; it felt good!" Kento grinned briefly before frowning sadly. He grasped his arms again and hunched over. "A-A-And that frightens me!" he wheezed, shuddering violently. "You have _no_ idea what it's like being completely aware of what you're doing and not being able to control yourself…or not even caring to…"

Ryo's gaze grew distant. He knew _exactly_ what it felt like… He remembered what he did as Demon Ryo. How it felt like to not be burdened with being Ryo Sanada, to enjoy giving into those darker urges. He remembered trying to sink his fangs into Mia's neck, driven by desire. Tar's earlier comments about the "Un-Self" came to mind. Ryo cast a sympathetic glance at Kento. As much as he wanted to confide in his friend, he just couldn't bring himself to admit that sort of weakness. Ryo ran his tongue over his lips and opened his mouth to speak.

"The greatest threat we face as Ronin Warriors doesn't come from the Dynasty, or the Thunthen, but from temptation; the urge to go against everything we're trained _not_ to do. Confronting those urges is part of being human." Kento seemed to relax and tilted his gaze upward. "As long as you hold onto your Heart of Justice, you'll _always_ be human."

Kento sat there quietly for several moments before nodding slightly and glancing at Ryo. "…thanks, Ryo…" he whispered and smiled weakly. Ryo patted him on the shoulder.

At the same time in the comm. room, Miz Paufan and Ita Tarmvun sat at the console glancing from their personal tablets to the main screen. Rowen stood behind them and observed. "So what was all that commotion about earlier? Koi try playing with Whiteblaze again?" Rowen asked.

"Um…the Captain forbade us to speak of it," Miz said.

"Why?" Rowen wrinkled his nose. Ita promptly smacked Miz in the arm with her tail club.

"That why," she said curtly. Rowen raised an eyebrow but chose not to pry further.

"So, what are we looking for here?" he asked and studied the displayed weather radar.

"Large atmospheric disturbance just appear off coast. Inconsistent with normal patterns for season. Warm air where there should be no warm air. Remaining stationary," Ita said.

"It's not behaving like a storm front, basically," Miz provided. "It just…_appeared_, like that. Here, watch," Miz tapped a key and the screen displayed an animated radar image. One moment the sea appeared clear and calm, then seconds later a large blob of red formed. "Any luck on your end, Ita? The Human's programming language may be archaic, but it's still tricky."

"Pffeh! I been doing this since before you were egg," Ita snorted and twitched her mustache. Miz sighed and continued typing away. Rowen studied the image and narrowed his eyes.

"There's some sort of outline…there, you see it?" he reached out and pointed at the screen and faint openings in the seething mass of red. "Can you clean it up a little and zoom in?"

"Sure…just a second…" The red blob changed shape and seemed to disperse until only a single definitive shape remained; a wide block framed by two longer blocks that tapered towards the front. Ita and Miz dropped their tablets and gasped in horror. "Roth preserve us!" Miz squealed and clamped his hands over his head. "It's the _Ramahatesguad_!"

"Bhazzak! Bhaaazzaaaak!" Ita hissed frantically.

"What the-" Ryo scowled when he heard a blaring siren erupt in the main cavern. "When the hell did they install an alarm?" he grumbled and looked from side to side.

"Ryo! RYO!" Ryo saw Rowen run out of the comm. room.

"Rowen, what's all this about?" Ryo demanded and hopped off the Wall Boulder.

"_'Hammer of the Stars'_, one of the super-carriers! It just parked itself off the coast! Oh this is bad, this is bad, this is _SO_ bad! Hey! Hey! Wake up everyone! We got trouble!" Rowen hollered as he dashed towards the residential hall. Ryo drew in a sharp breath and turned to leave but paused and glanced over his shoulder, remembering Kento still sitting on the crags.

"You don't have to come along if you don't want to," he offered.

"What? You kidding? Asking me to _not_ fight is like asking me to not breathe!" Kento argued cheerfully and sprang off the boulder. Ryo nodded and raised his wrist-com.

"Allright then. RONIN TO ARMS!" he shouted into the open channel.

* * *

Civilians all along the coast stared out in wonder at the massive dark thunderhead hovering over the bay. Past all the rain columns and seething clouds, the _Ramahatesguad_ looked like a reclining dragon at a distance with the central bridge and crew quarters rearing up like a head and the two massive hangar bays like great grasping paws. The heat pouring out from its thrusters over the sea fed moisture into the air. "This planet welcomes us. It shields us from prying eyes," Bru Ranir remarked as he paced about the bridge. Mal Daggur smirked in his command chair.

"Dispatch the first squadrons. I'm leaving you in charge here," he stated and rose from his chair. "I will accompany the first wave of the ground assault."

"Is that wise? The Ronin Warriors might notice you," Bru Ranir cautioned.

"Oh, I am _counting_ on it," Mal Daggur grinned toothily. "They would be hard pressed indeed to pass up the chance for a 'rematch'. The Thangiens consider Ander a hero, but he was nothing but a craven coward who slew my father using a Metra Wave. Not even he could best me in single combat. No _man_ alive can match _me_!" Mal Daggur snarled gleefully.

* * *

"Raurgoth and the Incarnations will try to hold them at the bridge," Ryo shouted as he ran through the street in full armor along with Rowen, Cye, Tanya, Sage, and Kento. He looked up briefly and saw Raurgoth soar overhead en route to the bay. "They'll more than likely send troops in on foot. Any that reach the city are ours to handle. Anubis?" Ryo said to his wrist-com as he ran. "You and the others have my full permission to Warlord-out."

"_As if we_ needed _it_," Anubis replied over visual link and chuckled cheerfully.

Civilians stepped out of their cars and pointed at the colossal winged reptile that alighted atop the support towers. It did not attack, so people took pictures and gawked. One man, however, remained in his car with his wife and daughter. While his daughter gazed up in awe at the magnificent beast, the father glanced from it to the looming thunderhead on the horizon.

"Okay…change of plans. We're not going into the city. We're going to go visit Grandma."

"Yaay! Gwamma!" the little girl cheered and clapped.

"She lives fifty miles away, are you serious?" the wife frowned.

"That dragon's trying to warn us. We need to get as far away from here as possible," the father glanced at the rear-view mirror and carefully made a U-turn and drove away. One by one, other motorists followed his example until none remained on the road.

Raurgoth grunted in satisfaction when he saw the bridge empty of civilian traffic. He craned his neck around and stared at the horizon. He spread his wings and bellowed a challenge. Far on the opposite side of the bridge, two feline forms ran up the support cables: one metallic, one white-furred. WILDCAT perched herself atop the tower facing the horizon, and Whiteblaze stood atop the tower overlooking the bay and the churning froth below. WILDCAT let out a grating metallic growl and lashed her tail. Whiteblaze twitched his ears and scowled.

"Can we count on any backup from Thanged?" Sage asked.

"No. Bak says the other carrier blockaded the Gate. We're on our own this time," Rowen replied. Sure enough, far above the planet, _Ramahatesguad's_ sister-ship, the _Huzonthunorthplier_ lurked hungrily some distance away from the Transgalactic Gate. Back in the city, air-raid sirens that hadn't seen use in decades warned people to stay in shelter.

Far over the ocean, a storm-hunter plane penetrated the colossal thunderhead. The crew inside monitored their instruments, perplexed by the sudden atmospheric phenomenon. As they proceeded through the thick cloud cover, they found themselves flying towards a massive metallic structure hovering over the ocean. The pilot kept his grip on the controls, but his crewmembers pressed their faces against the windows and stared out at the immense ship that looked like it easily spanned half as wide as the mainland itself. Small specks appeared in the distance and approached. They looked like cone-shaped craft with wide curving wings. The ships zoomed past, but did not attack the storm-chaser. They had business elsewhere.

"If Thunthen didn't keep their parts on the inside, I'd kick them so hard-" Tanya began.

"Why, hello there." The six of them skidded to a stop and looked towards an open-faced parking garage. The long tail swept behind him as he sauntered out into the open. His lips peeled back, exposing his vicious crocodile smile. "Fancy running into you all," he chuckled deeply.

"Mal Daggur! What the hell are you doing here?!" Ryo demanded.

"Bearing witness to my victory. I took the consideration of informing my forces to minimize damage to the landscape. Once the Human vermin have been expunged…I imagine I'd rather enjoy the view," Mal Daggur pursed his lips and tilted his head up and to the side, nodding. Ryo bared his teeth, seething. He drew his swords and pointed one at Mal Daggur.

"GET HIM!" he roared and the six of them spread out to attack from all sides. Rowen immediately took to the air and loosed a salvo of arrows. Mal Daggur crouched and ducked his head, sheltering it with his right arm while intercepting most of the arrows with his shell. He stomped over towards a manhole cover and plunged his claws into it then hurled it like a discus, striking Rowen in the midsection and knocking him from the sky. Sage swung with his dererium blade, but Mal Daggur sidestepped and pinned the sword against the pavement with his talons while striking Sage in the chest with his elbow. He grabbed him by the arm and swung him around then released, sending him flying into Rowen as he tried standing.

Tanya charged towards him and vaulted into the air. Mal Daggur grinned in anticipation and opened his jaws wide, but much to his surprise, Tanya grabbed his snout with her small hands and suspended herself above him. She dropped down onto his head and wrapped her arms around his jaws, clamping them shut. Mal Daggur tried to shake her off as she extracted her grapple line to tie around his muzzle. Mal Daggur noticed Cye and Ryo closing in and had to use his claws to fend off their attacks. Before Tanya could make one loop, Mal Daggur pitched forward and bashed her against Cye, sending the two Ronin sprawling.

Tanya rolled off of Cye and tried to sit up, but Mal Daggur pinned her down with one foot. "GET AWAY FROM HER!" Ryo and Kento shouted simultaneously, enraged at the sight. Mal Daggur stepped back and turned to face their charge. He parried Ryo's flaming blade with his claws and whirled around quickly, lashing his tail at a startling speed. The spiked club struck Kento directly in the chest. His eyes widened and he cried out softly as the impact sent him flying so far back, he vanished into the shadows of the parking garage's ground level. "KENTO!" Ryo turned to face Mal Daggur. "You'll pay for that!" He began a series of slashes and thrusts. Mal Daggur grabbed Ryo's swords by sandwiching each blade between two claws.

"You fight like a Thangien, Raeo Flamerider…" Mal Daggur taunted and grinned. "I too know the ways of Rait'chian!" he roared and kicked Ryo away.

An armored figure sat on the pavement of the parking garage with his back against the wall. A spider web of cracks in the wall radiated from the impact. He slowly opened his eyes then winced from a sharp pain in his chest. He tried to push himself to his feet, and shards of metal clattered to the floor, exposing the mesh primary layer. "Okay…sharp, burning pain in the ribcage…traditionally not a good sign…what?" Kento's eyes widened. "No! No! I can't!" he gasped and clamped a hand over his chest when he sensed the prickling in his organs. Kento frowned and looked up as sounds of battle filtered in from outside the garage. _My friends are being murdered out there…I have to do something…_

_"As long as you hold onto your Heart of Justice, you'll always be human…"_

Kento let out a sigh then relaxed. He dismissed his armor and powered all the way down into normal wear and looked down at his hand. The fingers twitched slightly, and he clenched his fist. "I know what I have to do," he said solemnly and looked forward, narrowing his eyes.

"It will take more than a few sillily-armored samurai to defeat the Supreme High Overlord!" Mal Daggur taunted as he sent Sage and Tanya crashing into a wall, followed by Rowen and Cye. He grabbed Ryo by the collar and threw him into the wall roughly alongside his friends. "Five little Ronins sitting in a row; which of the five is the first to go!" he sang and coiled his tail, preparing to strike one of them directly in the face. He paused abruptly when he heard a rattling growl. "Who's there?" he demanded and stepped away from the Ronin. He squinted when he saw a pair of white lights flickering in the shadows of the parking garage. The lights dimmed and a human male exited the shadows. "Oh, _you_. I'd forgotten about you."

"Mal Daggur! Back away from my friends," Kento Rei Faun growled as he walked towards the Thunthen Noble, unarmored. Rowen looked up when he heard the voice and gasped.

"What the heck is Kento thinking?! Is he _trying_ to get himself killed!?"

"I already gave you a sound enough beating earlier. If you have a death wish, I'm afraid you'll have to wait as these fellows were here before you," Mal Daggur smirked and gestured to the other five Ronin sitting against the wall behind him. Kento scowled and clenched his fists.

"I'm not gonna repeat myself; Back away from them, or else!" he growled with a slight echo.

"Or else _what_?! Hmm?" Mal Daggur snapped at him then moved his tail club close to Cye's face. Cye noticed it hovering nearby and tried to lean away, but his injuries had left his body numb. The club nudged an inch closer and Cye grimaced in anticipation. Then Mal Daggur swung it and struck Cye in the side of his head. Cye cried out in protest and slumped to the side. Kento let out a strange sounding half-growl half-snort then narrowed his eyes.

"I…was _waiting_…for you to _do that_," Kento said with a grin and his voice came out with a low growling echo. Ryo heard a familiar sound and tilted his head up slowly. He saw Kento standing there in nothing but normal clothes. His pupils had turned white.

_No! Don't do it!_ Kento closed his eyes and bowed his head, holding his fists near his chest. He bunched his shoulders and tensed. Mal Daggur stared at the small human, puzzled. Kento bared his teeth and a deep guttural growl rose from his throat. "KENTO! NO!"

Kento threw back his head and let out a cry that melted into a deep roar. He opened his hands and splayed his fingers, holding his arms at his sides. His fingers twitched a few seconds before lengthening and thickening. The nails extended into thick white claws. He let it take him over, and it seemed less painful and much quicker. His shoulders moved out and the bones grew. He nearly toppled over when intense pain shot down his legs, but he struggled to remain standing.

All the while Mal Daggur watched mouth agape. The claws finished growing and Kento clenched his fists. His back arched as his spine readjusted. His skin faded into a pale gray-lavender and his hair turned bone-white. "S-S-See for yourrrself; the strength of Earth!" Kento roared deeply and threw back his head again. He held his fists at his sides before tilting his head forward and opening his eyes, revealing white irises and white slit-shaped pupils.

"…Okay…that…that's….new…" Rowen stammered, wide-eyed. Tanya looked just as surprised while Cye and Ryo looked dismayed. Sage noticed and looked at them.

"This is what that stuff did to him last week, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah…Tar thought he'd cured him completely, but it stayed in his body long enough to have permanent effect," Ryo replied sadly. Kento shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his neck.

"I wouldn't have believed it had I not seen it with my own eyes…" Mal Daggur whispered in genuine awe. "An _emdourachil_: the Inner Self given form!" Mal Daggur used the same word Tar used earlier. "So…this is the result of Cochran's formula…" Ryo's eyes widened.

"Cochran? _Lazro_ Cochran?! You mean that little worm's working for _you_ too?"

"No, just for me now. I originally conscripted him to mass-produce the chemical as a greeting for Thanged's Ranks, but I never imagined such intriguing side-effects on a human…"

"'Side-effect'? You _cursed_ him with this, and you call it a 'side-effect'?!" Ryo staggered to his feet and tightened his grip on his swords. "Youuuuuu SCALY SONOFABITCH!" Ryo howled and lunged, ignoring the protests of his friends. He raised his swords to stab Mal Daggur in the neck, but the Noble merely backhanded him savagely, sending him crashing back into the wall. The other Ronin gasped and Sage and Tanya scooted to his side to tend to him.

"Ryo!" Kento growled in concern and narrowed his eyes at Mal Daggur angrily. "You…" he snarled and clenched his fists. His eyes began glowing and his hair bristled.

"Silence yourself, _human_!" Mal Daggur snapped and suddenly lashed out with his tail, coiling it around Kento's neck so tight, the spiked tail club pressed against the Ronin's cheek. "I will snap your head off like a cork and drink like _wine_ the blood that flows out…" Mal Daggur grinned viciously, having inflicted just such a fate upon countless opponents in the past. Rowen and Cye gasped at the sight as Kento struggled against the pressure on his neck. His eyes flickered and he reached up shakily and closed his hands around the tail. Mal Daggur's confident sneer melted into stunned disbelief when Kento began prying the tail away from his neck.

Mal Daggur cried out in protest when he felt his feet leave the ground, and he reached down and pawed the air uselessly as he saw the pavement pull away from him and give way to the open sky above and surrounding buildings. He grunted from the impact and his limbs draped over the pavement since his shell spikes propped him above the ground. Kento let go of the tail and stepped back, placing himself between his friends and Mal Daggur after having grabbed the Noble's tail and flung him up and down, smacking him shell-first into the pavement. Mal Daggur rolled to the side jerkily and pushed himself to stand, tottering slightly.

"To grab a Noble's tail…is considered a _grave_ insult…to _throw_ him by it is an _unforgivable_ one. For your sake, you'd better hope you were ignorant of that…" Mal Daggur snarled. Kento said nothing, but his mouth turned up in a smirk. Mal Daggur narrowed his eyes and moved back a few steps. "You wish to challenge me? So be it!" Mal Daggur pivoted on his heel and lashed his tail at full stretch, digging into the ground with the spiked club. Kento leapt up out of the way, but the club continued gouging a shallow trench into the pavement until Mal Daggur stopped and lifted his tail. He'd carved a wide rough circle into the ground and stepped back until his heels touched the far end of the trench. "IL PAURA DOUR!" Mal Daggur taunted and beckoned with his dagger-like claws. Kento sprang into the ring without hesitation.

"I don't care how strong he is now, we can't let him take on _Mal Daggur_ by himself! Come on, we gotta back him up!" Rowen retrieved his bow and staggered to his feet.

"I'm with ya, Rowen!" Cye said and used his trident as a crutch before tensing to charge. "TO ARMS! YAAAHHH!" Kento frowned and looked over his shoulder when he heard the cries and saw Rowen and Cye running towards him. The two had barely passed Kento when they felt something seize them by their armor collars and fling them back into the wall, not hard enough to injure but rough enough to stun them. Kento turned around and let out a rattling roar followed by a warning growl and glared at them fiercely. The other Ronin stared at their friend in disbelief. Kento turned back around to face Mal Daggur, who also looked baffled.

"I…I think he wants us to sit this one out…" Rowen stammered and blinked.

"Well, he coulda just said so, you know, instead of, well: 'grrr'," Cye commented.

"Tanya, can you use your blades to help Kento out a little?" Sage asked.

"I'm not doing shit," Tanya replied while she looked after the injured Ryo. "Kento thinks he can take on Mal Daggur alone, we should too." Sage looked exasperated and glanced at Kento.

"I don't care what Kento thinks, we have to do something!" Sage tried to stand but grimaced and sagged back down towards the ground. "…or we can sit here and rest up…"

"To the challenger goes the first blow, so come on little human! Strike me with those pathetic kitten claws of yours!" Mal Daggur taunted and lashed his tail. Kento crouched and tensed for a pounce. He sprang forward to tackle the Noble, but Mal Daggur launched himself into the air and somersaulted. Kento's eyes widened as the spiked shell descended towards him. Mal Daggur curled his arms and legs over his torso, intending to crush the unarmored Ronin Warrior.

Mal Daggur cried out in surprise when he felt his body jerk to a halt midair. He lashed his tail wildly and flailed his arms and legs like an upended turtle. The other Ronin watched in disbelief as Kento held two of the largest spikes and hefted the Thunthen Noble over his head. Kento slowly rose to his full height, suspending a furious Mal Daggur above him. The Noble tried tilting his head back to glare at Kento, but yelped when Kento swung him to the side abruptly and slammed him onto the pavement hard enough to knock the wind out of him. The blocky chin struck the ground, dazing the Noble. Mal Daggur lay sprawled over the ground limply.

Kento braced one foot against the shell and stooped over Mal Daggur. He tightened his grip on the two large spikes and began growling. Veins bulged under his skin like strands of rope as he squeezed. Cracks began forming in the spikes and Kento's eyes burned bright white in determination. The spikes shattered from the pressure, sending small shards spraying in all directions. Some struck Mal Daggur's face near his eye, but he had yet to stir. Kento closed his hands around two more spikes. Enamel split around the base as Kento tried prying the spikes off entirely. Mal Daggur shrieked in pain and lashed his tail, knocking Kento off balance.

"Fiend!" Mal Daggur stood up and shook his head to regain focus and turned his head around to glance down at his shell. He saw two ragged stumps where spikes had been before, and gaping cracks near two others. "DESECRATOR!" he screamed and glared at Kento. The two charged at each other: Mal Daggur with all his hate and Kento with all his selflessness.

* * *

"This looks pretty bad," Yulie Yamano commented from the saddle as he and White Wind wove around buildings. They could see the enemy fighters swarming into the city. Yulie glanced down at his sword hilt but doubted he could get near enough to make a difference. White Wind made a growling burble and tossed his head. "Allright then, show me how Pegasi fight," Yulie shrugged and ducked down close against White Wind's neck. White Wind loosed a salvo of missiles, hitting several D-class fighters in the axle shafts and sending the cockpits flying into walls or the street. White Wind let out an echoing shriek; one Pegasi yet remained on Earth!

Yulie glanced over his shoulder when he heard a familiar yowl and saw a red-and-black form darting through the air. Lavender hair furled over the shoulders and sunlight glinted off a drawn sword. Pegasus passed close to Yulie and Chi Chi Lina, Danae threw him a friendly smile. She raised the sword Gold Wing high, ready to remind the Thunthen invaders why they feared her father's mighty blade. Okay, _two_ Pegasi yet remained on Earth.

* * *

Raurgoth hovered over the bay near the support pillars, flapping his wings and tossing spray up high into the air. The Thunthen pilots didn't know what to make of the relatively harmless water. They did not notice air rippling around the dragon's mouth. Raurgoth pitched forward and unleashed his fire into the spray, causing the air all over the bay to erupt with thick billowing steam. The heat interfered with the fighter's sensors and they flew into the cloud effectively blind. One pilot squealed in terror when jaws emerged from the thick and clamped tight around the aircraft. Phergon blasts reflected off of Raurgoth's silver-plated belly uselessly. More and more fighters entered the cloud only to be struck down by the dragon's flailing paws.

Far on the opposite side of the bridge, WILDCAT stood like a single bastion and loosed all her arsenal, lighting the sky with her barrage. Unfortunately, none of the fighters passed close enough for Whiteblaze to get in on any action, so he reclined patiently on his tower.

* * *

"SNAKE FANG STRIKE!" Sehkmet hurled his swords into the walls. Red mist erupted from the blades, clogging the air. Fighters passed through the mist relatively unscathed at first. The pilots gasped in shock when their cockpits began disintegrating around them, leaving them exposed in the air. They seemed to hover, briefly flailing their arms helplessly before gravity asserted itself and they plummeted towards the street. Sehkmet chuckled merrily at the sight.

A pilot that had the presence of mind to avoid the ominous looking cloud found himself quite surprised when something landed on the canopy of his craft. A swathe of red fabric blinded his view before being pulled away, and the pilot found himself flying into a building. Cale sprang away and landed on another craft. The pilot within yelped when a blade penetrated the canopy all the way into the cockpit, impaling the seat between his legs. Cale wrenched his blade to the side and chopped off the entire front nose of the craft then leapt towards a wall. He stuck his sword into the wall and perched himself atop the blade, letting his cape drape down his back while the ruined craft and its pilot plummeted towards the street.

Squads of obsidian-armored Nobles wielding phergon rifles skulked through the streets. They managed to meet up with some of the downed pilots and searched for enemy targets. "WEB OF DECEPTION!" Streams of sticky white webbing erupted from all directions and caught the Nobles by surprise. They roared and hissed, squirming uselessly. The webbing wrapped around their limbs in such a way they could not tear themselves free. "You covet this world so much? Then stick around," Dais taunted from where he dangled. "Welcome to my parlor...hah hah…"

Coils of black chain rattled as Anubis stepped onto the edge of a building overlooking a street. He saw a squadron of D-class fighters approaching and sprang into the air, hurling the weighted claw. It struck near the axle shaft, detonating the fuel compartment and sending the cockpit crashing into a building. Anubis recalled his chain and hurled it again, catching another craft's wing and yanking it off course. He put to use a tactic he'd adopted from Azuro; using momentum to keep aloft as if flying. One by one, he struck down incoming craft.

One craft headed straight towards the Ronin Warrior. Anubis swung down, cleaving the cockpit straight down the middle. Both halves passed on either side of Anubis. He glanced to the right and saw the terrified pilot scrunched up on the absolute farthest edge of his seat. Their gazes met and Anubis flashed the pilot a smirk before the remains of the craft plummeted.

Anubis drew himself towards a wall with his chain before burying his scythe into the wall and hung from it. He frowned when he smelled something burning and sniffed a few times. He blinked in surprise when he noticed some of his hair steaming and curling from a stray phergon blast. "Oh…I _suppose_ this warrants the occasion," he sighed and conjured his helmet, donning the terrible visage of the Ogre. He looked up when he heard distant whines of another approaching squadron and sprang to the opposite side of the street. "QUAKE WITH FEAR!" The incoming pilots rounded the corner only to find themselves flying directly into a net of chains that sheared the wings clean off their craft, sending the cockpits falling.

"BLACK LIGHTNING SLASH!" Thunthen pilots cried out in pain as crackling energy coursed through their cockpits, leaving them helpless. Cale stood on the roof corner and surveyed his work proudly. He looked up when he saw Sehkmet arrive. "How many have you taken out?" Cale queried. Sehkmet held a finger to his lips.

"Shh…they're sleeping." Dozens of Nobles lay strewn over the pavement paralyzed from venom. Sehkmet raised his wrist-com and waggled his fingers above the mechanism before he remembered which button to press. "Hey Anubis! How are things on your end?"

_"They're much easier to handle this time around. They rely too much on their technology. If they fought us as true warriors, then they might put up more of a challenge."_

"If they fought as true warriors then we'd get our butts kicked…" Sehkmet wrinkled his nose.

"Hah! You're wearing your helmet!" Cale teased and pointed at the screen, leaning close. Anubis scowled and "hrmphed" irritably before closing the connection.

* * *

Kento and Mal Daggur traded blows furiously, yet neither of them managed to inflict serious wounds upon the other. Kento deflected any strikes from the long claws by hardening his skin, while the material of Mal Daggur's armguards absorbed the impact from the smaller claws without tearing. Their roars blended together in pitch as they continued their frenzied duel. Kento seemed to have lost none of his agility despite his increased size. In fact, he seemed to move much more deftly than before, able to match Mal Daggur's attack speed. They circumvented each other as they fought, remaining within the bounds of the circle.

Mal Daggur ducked down suddenly and head-butted Kento in the abdomen, sending the Ronin Warrior flying towards the circle's edge. While no rule had been established that forbade leaving the ring, the both of them seemed to use it as a measure of their prowess. Just as it seemed Kento would pass over the edge of the circle, he reached down and plunged his claws into the pavement. Kento swung his body around quickly, catching Mal Daggur's ankles in a scissor-kick and sweeping the Noble's legs out from under him. Mal Daggur grunted when he landed on his stomach and his chin banged against the ground. He glanced to the side and gasped, barely rolling away in time to avoid Kento's fist as he plunged it into the pavement.

Kento snorted in surprise when Mal Daggur coiled his tail around his wrist. The other Ronin gasped when they saw Mal Daggur tug Kento towards the ground and at the same time drive his left knee into the Ronin's chin. The blow sent Kento staggering as Mal Daggur withdrew his tail. Instead of following up with another attack, however, Mal Daggur hobbled back towards the edge of the circle with a hand clamped over his left knee. Kento steadied himself and rubbed his chin, and the two opponents gave each other a brief respite before attacking again.

"_RYO! You're not going to believe this!"_ Ryo looked down when he heard Sehkmet's voice and raised his wrist-com. He glanced from the screen to the ongoing fight then back again.

"I'm watching Kento bear-wrestle _Mal Daggur_! I'll believe just about anything at this rate!"

_"Ooookay…wish I could be seeing that…"_ Sehkmet raised an eyebrow under his face mask then shook his head as if remembering something. "_It's the Dynasty_!" Ryo hissed in exasperated fury, but Sehkmet continued speaking. "_They've engaged the Thunthen!"_

* * *

"Commander! Multiple signatures closing in all around!" a Common reported.

"Have you analyzed them?" Bru Ranir glanced at the screen.

"Yes…they…appear to be made of wood." Bru Ranir arched a thick eyebrow at the Common. "…with some of them reinforced with metal plating…" Bru Ranir scowled at him icily. "…D-D-Deploying port and starboard batteries..." Outside along the hull of the _Ramahatesguad_, plates slid open to reveal the powerful phergon cannons. Approaching Dynasty barges disintegrated under withering fire that lit the clouds up with green thunder.

"Ouagli sends his toys against us as if we are children to be frightened…" Bru Ranir snorted.

"More contacts incoming!" The screen lit up once more as hundreds-thousands- of attackers closed in around the super-carrier. The phergon batteries fired again, and again scoured the Dynasty ships from the sky, but more appeared. The cannons dimmed, and despite phergon's nigh-unlimited energy output, the barrels required a cooling-down period. Bru Ranir's disdain melted into genuine worry and he rose from the command chair.

"We are being boarded!" another Common in the bridge reported.

"The gall?! TOOOOOR! TOOOOR!" Bru Ranir bellowed.

"Doom Lords, prove your worth!" Admiral Duratin shouted from his flagship far above the cannon's line of fire. The bulky upgraded Dynasty Soldiers the Ronin had dubbed 'Destroyers' leapt onto the extended barrels of the phergon cannons and stormed inside the ship. One Doom Lord toppled backward when a blast tore through its face. The little Khamens responded to the incursion, making up for what they lacked in brute strength with deadly accuracy with phergon rifles. The Doom Lords tried firing their bulky energy weapons, but the Commons merely ducked and avoided the shots. However, in the process the missed shots laid waste to the interior.

"For the Glory of the Emperor!" General Duratir shouted and held a furling banner in one hand and pointed down the street with the other. Dynasty Droids on foot charged forward to meet opposing Thunthen troops. Those the Nobeyls didn't mow down with their own blasters they carved to ribbons with their claws and tail clubs. Duratir took a step back when Thunthen approached his chariot. Suddenly the air erupted with violent crackling black energy.

"WRETCHED OUTWORLDERS! DIEEEEE!" Emperor Talpa himself took to the field, raising a sword high and unleashing his dark might. The initial wave of Thunthen troops withered from the power of the Dark Lord of the Dynasty. "BEGONE FROM _MY_ REALM! AAGH!" Talpa bellowed when a rather audacious blast struck his shoulder. Nobles joining the battle identified him as a target and poured phergon fire against him. Talpa managed to shield himself from the worst of the barrage, but the force sent him staggering back step by step.

Nether Spirits sat at the helm of many Dynasty barges and used their powers to disable and destroy oncoming D-class fighters. One fighter headed towards a barge on a collision course, and as his ship began to break apart, the Noble pilot sprang out from the cockpit and landed on the deck of the vessel, startling the Dynasty Droids aboard. He lashed about with his tail and claws, slaying many of them before succumbing to his injuries and collapsing. Only one soldier and the Nether Spirit remained alive aboard the barge when the Noble ultimately expired.

Barges floated over the bridge en-route to the super-carrier. Raurgoth swatted down a few from his position. Some of the barges passed near enough to the support tower Whiteblaze stood upon, and he pounced towards the nearest vessel. He landed on one Dynasty Droid, crushing it under his weight. He seized another by its gun arm as the other droids took aim with their weapons. He ducked his head under the soldier's body and used it as a shield to absorb gunfire before clamping down on the arm with his jaws just so that it caused gunfire to erupt from the barrels, taking out the remaining soldiers. The Nether Spirit raised its hands, but Whiteblaze sprang onto another ship. WILDCAT's tail blaster destroyed the ship along with the spirit. Soldiers yelped in protest as Whiteblaze head-butted them off the deck and into the sea.

The _Ramahatesguad_ found itself beset from all sides, but its crew managed to halt the Dynasty's advance. Mal Daggur had his own Rares under his command, and they entered the fray using their unique abilities against Talpa's forces. Some could detach their shells and use them like shields or hurl them like discus. Others could remove their claws and throw them like knives with deadly precision or expel corrosive liquid from their nostrils. Doom Lords found themselves ambushed by Rares that could camouflage themselves like chameleons, remaining unseen against the environment until the proper time.

Bru Ranir scowled in disbelief at the screen showing the active squadrons deployed in the city. Several of them flashed red, indicating ships that had gone down in combat. "This…this shouldn't be happening. This isn't even a global invasion. This is one city, one _pathetic_ human city! We shouldn't be having this much trouble!" he hissed in disbelief, wide eyed. "Recall all remaining fighters to cover our retreat! Have a troopship prepared for me. I'm going to retrieve the Supreme High Overlord," Bru Ranir ordered and stalked off the bridge.

* * *

"ENOUGH!" Mal Daggur roared and head-butted Kento, forcing him skidding back slightly. "I am no mere rock worm! I am _MAL DAGGUR_!" He whacked Kento in the side of his head with his tail club. The blow that would've torn the head clean off the strongest Thangien warrior merely stained the white hair red. "Son of _SUR_ DAGGUR!" Mal Daggur slashed at Kento's neck, but the claws merely glanced off the hardened skin like knives against rock. The force still sent Kento reeling, almost backing him up to the edge of the circle. "I HAVE NO EQUAL!" Mal Daggur tried clamping his jaws around Kento's raised arm and tugged from side to side, but he felt his teeth scrape against the skin instead of sinking into the flesh. Kento pried the jaws off and pushed the muzzle back, unfazed. "I WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY A MERE HUMAN-" Kento socked Mal Daggur in the side of his muzzle.

Mal Daggur hobbled back, shuffling towards the edge of the circle with one hand clamped over his muzzle. His gums burned from pain and some of the teeth jiggled in their sockets. He clicked his jaws shut and gazed at the transformed human. Kento held his arms raised and fingers splayed but his chest heaved with sharp, deep breaths.

_…How long can he sustain himself in that form?_ Mal Daggur wondered before grimacing and swaying to one side. _Much longer than I can, I fear_… Both teetered on the edge of exhaustion. Multiple scratches marred Kento's gray-lavender skin, yet none of them bled. Mal Daggur's padded armor remained mostly intact, but his flesh still bruised from numerous strikes. Mal Daggur realized the extent of his fatigue when he felt his lips peel up over his gums. On his exposed skin, his scales started to separate in an effort to cool himself. He'd started to overheat.

Just then Mal Daggur became aware of chatter coming in over the communicator in his blue gauntlet. He glanced down and raised his arm, arching an eyebrow. He listened for a few moments, and Kento waited patiently. Mal Daggur glanced at Kento then back at the gauntlet and frowned. He wiped his green sleeve against his muzzle and grimaced.

Ryo didn't know what to think when Mal Daggur broke out laughing. The Thunthen commander doubled over and slapped a hand against his thigh, shaking from good-humored guffaws. "I-I-I applaud you, human! I-It-It's been _decades_ since I've had such an exhilarating battle!" Mal Daggur chuckled richly and shook his head. "As much as I would love to take this to its natural conclusion, it would seem that Ouagli presumes to challenge me for control of this world. Therefore, I must regrettably end our fight. However, I will not do you the _discourtesy_ of allowing you to live," Mal Daggur grinned and waggled a claw.

Kento seemed confused he saw air rippling around Mal Daggur's mouth. Ryo frowned when he remembered the first llaudaun he saw and how the actor portraying Ander's killer spewed red fabric from the mouth of the costume. His eyes widened in dawning realization when he recognized the rippling of air as being similar to something he'd seen Raurgoth do.

"KENTO! LOOK OUT!" Ryo shrieked at the same time Mal Daggur pitched forward, his maw gaping. Air crackled and snapped as gas ignited. Kento's eyes widened and he barely brought up his arms in time to shield his face from the blast of fire that erupted from Mal Daggur's mouth. While he deflected the worst of the fire with his arms, the blast scorched his skin. Mal Daggur charged forward through the lingering fire cloud with his arm raised and two claws placed together like a dreadful sickle. Kento raised his left arm as Mal Daggur slashed.

A large splash erupted to the side and splattered against the ground. Droplets of blood seemed to hover in the air. Kento shrieked in agony and cradled his arm while Mal Daggur stepped back and licked blood from his claws. The blow had flayed off nearly a third of the flesh from between the wrist and elbow. Blood dripped steadily from Kento's left arm.

Kento stood there with eyes squeezed shut and tears streaming down his cheeks. The other Ronin started to stagger to their feet. Mal Daggur grinned and tensed to charge. "I appreciate the sport, but even with your augmented form, you cannot defeat _me_." The other Ronin began to run forward at the same moment Mal Daggur lunged and tilted his head at an angle. In the time it would take for the other Ronin to intercept, Mal Daggur would have already clamped his jaws around Kento's throat. The maw gaped wide as Mal Daggur prepared to do just that, and Kento looked to be in no condition to respond as he whimpered from his injury.

Mal Daggur's jaws clamped shut on thin air. He wrinkled his brow in confusion and tilted his head sideways to see what had happened. His muzzle crumpled like an accordion and blood and teeth spewed into the air as Kento drove his left fist into Mal Daggur's face. In the same instant Mal Daggur had started to close his jaws, Kento had leaned away far enough to avoid the fatal bite and raised his wounded arm. Mal Daggur tottered back slightly before sagging towards the ground, a wet sigh rattling from his throat. Before he could fall, Kento caught him by the chest.

Ryo, Tanya, Rowen, Sage, and Cye watched in amazement as Kento hefted the defeated Thunthen leader above him using both arms; both bleeding and burnt arms. Mal Daggur's arms and legs hung limply and his tail dangled above the ground. He faded in and out of consciousness but became aware of his body moving. He felt centrifugal force tugging at his shattered muzzle and teeth wiggled loose from his lips and dangled from tiny blood vessels. The Ronin watched as Kento spun the Thunthen leader around and around with his palms before hurling him forward powerfully enough to send the Noble hurtling through the air.

Mal Daggur landed hard on his belly and skidded forward a few feet. His chin lay flat against the pavement and his beard fibers spread around his jaw. His eyes fluttered open and he slowly drew his limbs under him. He pushed himself to stand and tottered from side to side. Suddenly he pitched forward and retched, clamping both hands over his mouth. He vomited up a mixture of bile and blood, and when he pulled his hands away, he saw several sharp bloodied cones resting in his palms. His pupils contracted when he recognized his own teeth. He looked over his shoulder when he heard a low growl and saw a humanoid figure stalking towards him. The eyes glowed with a chilling light. For the first time in his life, Mal Daggur knew fear.

Kento let out a puzzled groan and looked up when he heard a loud roaring whine. He shut his eyes against the dust kicked up by the landing thrusters of a Thunthen troopship. Mal Daggur stood there still in shock with his hands cupping his mouth. The doors slid open and a metal ramp extended to the pavement. "Supreme High Overlord…" He recognized the voice of Bru Ranir but did not reply immediately. "The day is lost. We must retreat. Come, your people should not see you like this," Bru Ranir said softly and took Mal Daggur by the shoulders.

Mal Daggur cast a wrathful glare at the transformed human and opened his mouth intending to spew curses. Instead, he spewed out what remained of his teeth. Bru Ranir scowled upon seeing his friend's condition and looked up at Kento. "This isn't over, Ronin Warrior!" he shouted as he helped Mal Daggur board the troopship. "This isn't over by far!" he declared as the doors slid shut. Kento shielded his face with his scorched right arm as the troopship fired its boosters and rose into the air before clearing the skyline and disappearing from view.

Kento's eyes dimmed and he let out a whining moan before staggering back against the nearest wall. His shoulders drooped from exhaustion. "WOO HOO! YOU DID IT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT!" Kento blinked and looked to the side when he heard a jubilant voice. "All the songs the Thangiens could sing couldn't do justice to what you just pulled off!" Cye ran towards him grinning happily. Kento frowned and took a step back, raising his arms slightly. "Whoa, take it easy. It's just me. No need to get-EEP!" Cye yelped and sprang back in time to avoid a swipe from the white claws. "Hey! What gives! I'm just trying to-"

"Cye, get away from him," Ryo ordered as he and the others approached. "An animal when cornered is the most dangerous one of all." Cye glanced from him to Kento then at Ryo again.

"But, Kento's not an animal!" Cye argued.

"Yeah, but he thinks you're threatening him." Cye looked back at Kento again and saw the transformed human's eyes glowing and claws splayed.

"Whoops! Heh, sorry, my bad. See, I'm backing away. No harm no foul," Cye assured as he stepped back until he stood with the other Ronin. Kento's eyes dimmed and he lowered his arms.

"I was afraid of this…he's lapsed again, just like this morning," Ryo muttered.

"Is he stuck like that, or what?" Rowen asked worriedly.

"He can change back on his own, but I don't think he remembers how at the moment," Cye replied and glanced at his injured friend. Sage frowned and raised his sword, turning the blade until the flat faced him. In the reflection, he saw normal Kento standing there.

"He's definitely still there, but the battle's taken a toll on more than just his body." Sage took a step forward, keeping the blade raised. The transformed Kento tensed and growled in warning, and the reflection in the blade made similar movements. "Hear me, Kento of Hardrock. Let our spirits resonate with one another. Your mind is lost in the darkness. Let me lead you out into the light. Let the Heart of Wisdom-aack!" Sage cried out when Kento swatted the sword out of his hand hard enough to bury the blade into a wall. Sage cringed when Kento leaned forward, growling deeply. The eyes glowed brightly. Sage cautiously reached over to retrieve his blade and moved back towards the other Ronin. The eyes dimmed and Kento seemed to relax.

"Yeaahhh...I don't think he liked you doing that," Ryo muttered.

"I guess he only does that eye-glowy thing when he's mad," Rowen commented.

"Anyone got some leaves on them? That arm of his looks pretty bad," Tanya asked.

"Here, I picked up a packet from Kayura before we headed out," Sage retrieved a bundle from under his shoulder plate and opened it. He tried to step towards Kento again, but Kento growled in warning. "Whoa, easy. You're hurt. Let us help you!" Sage begged.

"It's no use. He doesn't recognize any of us as his friends," Ryo frowned.

"Come on guys, this is Kento we're talking about here. What does he respond to better than his own name?" Rowen reasoned. Cye bit his lip then snapped his fingers.

"Of course! Here, I always carry one of these…" Cye reached under his own shoulder plate and pulled out a wrapped candy bar. He pinched it by the corner and held it up for Kento to see. Kento noticed it and his expression lightened. Cye squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Tanya asked.

"I dunno, it's like I heard the word 'food!' in my head," Cye remarked.

"I didn't hear him say anything, did you?" Sage asked Rowen, who shook his head. Kento made a mewling sound and pawed at the air pitifully.

"You want this? Huh?" Cye asked and dangled the candy bar from side to side.

"Cye, stop teasing him and give it to him," Ryo snapped. Cye obeyed and tossed the candy bar at Kento, who caught it neatly and immediately flayed off the wrapper. He stuffed the bar into his mouth and chewed before swallowing, humming in pleasure.

"Aww, I think he likes you," Rowen teased. Kento glanced at Cye and blinked.

"Uh oh, I think he wants another one," Ryo grimaced.

"But I only ever carry one!" Cye protested. Kento scowled and snarled when he realized Cye had no more goodies for him. His eyes flickered and he splayed his claws. "EEP!" Cye squeaked.

"Come on guys, we need to do something. Look at his arm! He'll bleed out at this rate," Rowen stated. Sure enough, Kento looked on the verge of passing out. His eyes dimmed.

"What can we do? He won't let anyone near him!" Sage argued, still holding the wrapped Richtho leaf in one hand. Tanya glanced from him to Kento then back at Sage again.

"Give me thaaaaat," she sneered and snatched the bundle out of Sage's hand. "Bunch of freaking wusses," she snorted and stalked forward. Kento blinked when he saw the Lady Ronin approach and narrowed his eyes. He bared his teeth and growled and splayed his claws.

"I…don't think he likes her…" Rowen winced. Ryo's eyes widened when he noticed Tanya's stance; eyes forward, shoulders straight, exactly the opposite of what she should be doing.

_Get back…get back!_ Ryo fretted. Kento took a step back but Tanya continued moving forward, meeting the glowing white eyes with her burning bronze gaze. _Get back…_

The others cried out in alarm when Kento slashed with his right hand. Tanya turned her body sideways and Kento's claws passed within an inch of her back. As she turned, she hooked her right arm around his right elbow. "haaaaaaaAAAAAAHHH!" Tanya howled as she raised her left arm and drove her elbow into Kento's gut. Kento cried out in protest, but Tanya jabbed him a second and third time. Her feet left the ground as she threw all her weight into the fourth blow, knocking the wind from Kento. Kento reeled from the assault and coughed to recover. He blinked when he looked down and saw Tanya laying a damp leaf over the burns in his right arm.

"I don't think he knows whether to be confused or angry," Rowen remarked.

"Kento confused about being confused…yeah, that sounds like him," Ryo wrinkled his nose. Kento continued to watch bewildered as Tanya wrapped the leaf around his right arm. She pinched the edges together to keep it in place. Kento reached over with his left hand, curious. Tanya noticed this out the corner of her eye and paused, watching the hand come closer. She scowled and raised her right hand and swatted the back of Kento's hand. Kento blinked and tried tugging his arm away. "Uh oh…I think he wants his arm back…"

Tanya squawked when Kento lifted his arm abruptly. Her feet dangled above the ground and she draped her torso over his elbow. Kento brought his left hand close to her face and brandished his claws, growling. Tanya raised her left arm and aimed the elbow crest at Kento's stomach. Kento promptly set her back down gently. Tanya grabbed his left wrist and pulled his arm towards her, keeping her gaze averted as she draped the second leaf over the bloody open wound. Kento hissed angrily. Tanya reached up behind her with her right hand and patted Kento's right cheek twice then slapped him once on the left cheek with the back of her hand then slapped him hard across the right once more. Kento stood there eyes wide and blinked, stunned.

"Whoa…talk about pulling the thorn out of the lion's paw!" Sage exclaimed.

"I don't think Androcles slapped the lion," Ryo commented. Kento grumbled and tried to tug his arm away, but Tanya pulled his wrist back towards her and slapped him on the cheek.

"I know it itches," she muttered. "It's supposed to itch. That means it's healing-wait, what?!" Tanya blinked and looked up to either side. She glanced at Kento, who gazed off to one side idly before looking at her and blinking confusedly. Then she looked at the others, wondering if one of them had spoken aloud then shook her head. The four of them watched as Tanya began to bandage Kento's left arm. This close, she could see the individual blood vessels pulsing, most of them miraculously still intact despite losing so much tissue. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't help but gaze at the exposed bloodied bone. She arranged the leaf so that it covered the gaping wound, but she still heard blood and moisture squishing as she tucked the edges.

_I'm not going to do this…I'm…not…going to do this…_ Kento frowned and glanced at Tanya and saw her swaying slightly. _I'm…not…gonna…_ Tanya's eyelids fluttered.

"I don't think Tanya can make it…she's blood shy," Cye whispered.

"Tanya's blood shy?" Sage raised an eyebrow.

"Well a single drop won't make her pass out but…" Cye shrugged. His eyes widened in realization. "OH MY GOD!" Sage glanced at him, startled by the exclamation. "'When Rock and Fire stand opposed…and Wind drifts on afar…the Spirit Springs…and Rune Waters…will tame the Avatar'!" Cye whispered hoarsely. _Could I have prevented this_?

Ryo gasped in horror when he saw Tanya's legs give out from under her and she collapsed. Kento caught her in the crook of his arm and held her up slightly. He hummed in concern and gently nudged Tanya's right cheek with the back of his right hand. The other four Ronin held their breath at the sight of the white claws so close to Tanya's face.

Tanya stirred and her eyes fluttered open. She shook her head and glanced to the side then gently swatted Kento's hand away from her face. She apparently composed herself and turned her back to the other Ronin. She finished folding the leaf in place, all the while keeping her eyes half-lidded. Kento kept quiet and waited patiently for her to finish. Tanya blinked and looked to the side when she noticed something and saw that the leaf on Kento's arm started to peel open. She reached over and tucked the edges back together, but the leaf slowly opened again.

"It won't…stay…shut…your arm's too thick," she muttered and tried folding it differently but the leaf refused to stay put. "Ugh," Tanya snorted in disgust and reached for her helmet.

Ryo barely brought his hands up in time to catch Tanya's helmet as she flung it back quickly. She shook her ponytails out then reached up and pulled off the bands keeping them bound. She looped the spongy outer bands over her wrists and held the thinner elastic bands pinched between two fingers. Her black hair draped unbound down her back. She grabbed Kento's right wrist once more and wriggled one of the elastic bands over his arm, securing the leaf. She reached over and grabbed his left wrist and prepared to do the same with the second leaf.

To the other Ronin, Tanya looked the picture of calm, but up close, Kento noticed how she shuddered slightly. Her breath came out of her nostrils in quick faint bursts and he could hear her heart beating through her chest armor. Kento reached up with his right hand slowly.

With any other person, in any other situation, it might be considered a reassuring gesture, but in his state, Kento had forgotten he'd unwittingly committed a grievous insult to Tanya: he'd laid hands upon her. Ryo's heart found its favorite hiding spot in his throat when he saw Kento place his right hand on Tanya's left shoulder. Tanya herself went rigid and seemed to stop breathing. Kento blinked in confusion. Tanya blinked once slowly then flicked her gaze up at Kento. Her shoulders rose and her armor creaked as she inhaled through her nostrils. The words came out on her breath through bared teeth: "**GET YOUR HAND OFF OF ME**."

Kento yanked his arm back and held his hand close to his neck, looking startled. Tanya glared at him fiercely for a few moments, an each time he tried to meet her gaze he kept looking away, almost sheepishly. "_If you show dominance, that you are stronger, then an animal will acknowledge your authority, and even the fiercest lion can be as gentle as a kitten…"_ Ryo wistfully remembered watching his father rubbing a male lion's stomach while the lion crooned. That same sort of fearlessness-just as Roxi showed a couple days ago-Tanya displayed now.

Tanya set her jaw and finished fastening the elastic band around the second leaf. She retrieved the towel wrapping from where she'd draped it over her arm and used it to daub up some of the blood from around the edges of the leaf. "There… Doesn't look as bad…"

"Thank you…"

"Waugh!" Tanya yelped and startled. She glanced up and saw Kento looking at her.

"Thank you," he clearly spoke. Tanya stared at him, bewildered.

"…you're welcome," she replied shakily and backed away a step.

"He talked! He talked! Did you hear that? Kento! Kento, are you there?" Cye called. Kento glanced at him then reached up and rubbed his forehead. He grunted and blinked several times.

"Uhnnn…Cye?" The others cheered upon hearing that and rushed over. Tanya gasped when she saw Kento slump forward and reached up with both hands, bracing her palms against his chest to support his heavy body. Kento tilted his head up to look Tanya in the eye, and she watched amazed as he slowly changed back to his original form. She felt him shrinking under her hands, yet oddly enough he still seemed just as heavy. She stared into his eyes and saw the white irises bleed into blue and the white pupils darken into black. His eyes closed halfway and he sighed wearily before blinking several times and glancing up again. "…T-T-Tanya?"

"Hey, you allright there?" she asked, genuinely worried. Cye and Sage arrived alongside Kento and helped support him. Kento shook his head and blinked again.

"Tired…owch!" he grimaced and looked down at his arms. "Whoa, what'd I do?"

"What'd you do? You completely wailed on Mal Daggur!" Cye crowed.

"Mal Daggur? I…wait…I remember now…he attacked you guys…"

"You don't need to know all the gory details now. We should get you to the infirmary. Gonna need to replace those leaves soon, look, they're already almost drained," Rowen commented. Sage brought his sword close and channeled his power to try and repair the worst of the damaged tissue under the leaves. While the three of them tended to his wound and applauded his audacity in going toe to toe with Mal Daggur, Kento kept glancing at Tanya.

Ryo himself kept his distance, brooding over what Mal Daggur had said before the battle. _Lazro Cochran…This isn't the first crime you've committed…_ Ryo narrowed his eyes.

* * *

"Man, I feel like a mummy with all these," Kento commented from where he sat on one of the infirmary beds. Kayura had applied fresh leaves and bound them in place with gauze.

"The leaves Tanya bandaged you with did most of the work. These are just to finish the job," Kayura assured. Kento nodded solemnly and looked down at the tray that held the dried leaves from earlier. He reached over and retrieved two small elastic bands and stared at them before pocketing them quietly. "That you didn't suffer worse is a testament to your fortitude."

"Indeed," Tar Uhnin commented from his worktable. "Mal Daggur will not soon forget this day. Here, I have something for you," he sounded like a grandfather presenting a child with a present. "I took the liberty of visiting the site of the battle and retrieving these. I think you should have them," he held something up for Kento to see.

Even though Kento could only vaguely recall the battle, he recognized Mal Daggur's teeth when he saw them. "OH, DUDE! That's just-!" he protested and recoiled.

"Take it!" Tar growled and pushed the strung cord close. Kento glanced from him to the crude talisman and gingerly accepted it. The pearly white teeth clinked softly. "Keep it with you as a reminder of what you achieved; you defeated _Mal Daggur_! Not even Ander could do such a thing." Kento held the cord at arm's length then stuffed it in his other pocket.

"Don't expect me to wear it," he grumbled. "Besides…I wasn't the one who fought Mal Daggur…that…that was something else…" he sighed sadly.

"I think you were more yourself today than you've ever been before," Tar reasoned.

"Kento, as difficult as it might sound, I really think there might be credence to the Thunthen's theory about this somehow being a reflection of your spirit," Kayura commented. "Not once, in all the times you've transformed, have you ever attacked wantonly. The first time you fought to protect yourself from others, and this morning you fought to protect others from yourself."

"But I still lost control even though I was aware. I could've attacked the others…"

"Yet, why did you direct your ire against Mal Daggur and Mal Daggur alone?" Tar reminded. "Maybe you shouldn't think of this so much as your inner savagery. Maybe…you can think of it as your inner _strength_: The power to protect your friends when all else fails."

"Think about it; how many times has it occurred in the past that you've found yourself facing insurmountable odds," Kayura reminded. "How many times have you found yourself in a situation where your friends needed your help and you could not render aid? How many times have you risen in wrath against your foes only to be struck down with ease? All that despair, all that frustration gave itself form so that _never again_ would you or your friends find yourselves helpless in the face of your enemy!" Kento listened quietly and he recalled just such situations. Many of them Kayura had recalled from firsthand experience.

"I…remember something…from this morning…Bak said something to me…something that helped me calm down…what was it?" Kento looked at Tar. Tar glanced at Kayura and smiled.

"Emdourhichtai," he purred and placed his hand over his chest. "'In here lies the Heart'. It's the closest our kind gets to acknowledging the existence of a soul…Keep this in mind, Kento: It's an _aspect_ of you. It isn't _you_," Tar stated firmly. "We only say these things in hope you draw some measure of solace…" Kento sighed and nodded gratefully. While he appreciated their support, he frowned in concern from a thought that nagged in the back of his mind.

_Why do I feel like I've heard that before?_


	30. Bloodhun

Bloodhun

By Mardrena

_He ran a short distance before whirling around to face his attackers._ "Come and get me! I can do this all night!" _he taunted. The Dynasty Droids that had previously been aiming at him vanished without warning. He blinked in confusion but looked over his shoulder when he sensed a dread presence. The tall metallic form strode out of the fog confidently._ "TALPA!"

"I will take back that which is mine!"_ the Dark Lord of the Dynasty declared and raised his left hand, curling his thumb and index fingers until the tips touched and keeping his other fingers straight. He felt a force tugging at him and faltered under the power of the Emperor's spell. Excruciating pain wracked his body and all of a sudden his armor vanished, flowing away in a tendril of orange light. He collapsed to his knees, clad in nothing but his every-day wear, yet he felt naked in the face of his enemy. He looked down at his hands before clenching his fists._

"It doesn't matter! I'm still a Ronin Warrior, even without my armor!" _he shouted._

"Yes, but armor is certainly a handy thing to have," _a different voice drawled. He turned around too late to react as something struck him in the chest hard enough to send him flying through the air in an arc. He landed on his back on the rocky plain and skidded a few feet before coming to a stop. He propped himself up on one elbow and saw another tall figure approach._

"Mal Daggur!?"_ he exclaimed, shocked to see the Thunthen's Supreme High Overlord standing side by side with Talpa. The two arch-villains chuckled richly. A shiver ran down his spine when he sensed another presence and he looked behind him. A heavy cowl covered the face and it splayed fingers tipped with brass claws._ "Medusa!" _He scrambled to his feet_.

"Heh heh heh, wrong Gorgon sister!" _Mal Daggur and Talpa held their arms infront of their faces as Stheno pulled up her cowl. He caught just the barest glimpse of the red eyes. He felt it taking him over and saw his fingers and hands turn to stone, followed by his arms. He raised his arms before they solidified entirely and threw back his head in a scream before his throat froze. He stood there now, completely petrified. Stheno covered her face to protect her partners in evil._

"It suits him, don't you think?" _Mal Daggur grinned toothily, cocking his head to one side._

"It certainly brings him closer to his element," _Stheno commented. All three of them chuckled merrily. Mal Daggur took a step closer to the statue and lashed out with his tail, striking the frozen neck. A crack ran from the shoulder to the other side of the jaw. Mal Daggur pulled back his tail to strike again but paused. The three of them watched as cracks appeared in the arms and legs. The stone covering the eyes flaked off, revealing burning white light._

_Stone shattered, revealing a form much larger than it had been originally. He let out an echoing bellow that caused Mal Daggur and Stheno to cover their ears and sent Talpa reeling. He shut his eyes quickly, anticipating his foe. Stheno sprang back and pulled up her cowl, and Mal Daggur and Talpa shielded themselves again. He grunted and sniffed the air: he smelled the musty linen of her robes. He listened intently; he heard the hissing of the snakes on her head. He turned to face her and his white eyebrows furrowed in an angry scowl._

_Before Stheno had a chance to react, she found herself dangling above the ground. She scrabbled furiously at the gray-lavender hands wrapped around her neck, but the brass claws clicked uselessly against the stony skin. His white hair bristled and he growled deeply, still keeping his eyes closed. She squirmed and gagged and thrashed her legs as he squeezed tighter. Mal Daggur and Talpa lowered their arms when they heard the gruesome wet crack and saw Stheno's head bounce off his arm and onto the ground while her limp body slid out of his grasp after he'd clenched his fists. The snakes hissed in protest briefly before the corpse crumbled to dust. Satisfied with the elimination of one threat, he opened his eyes and turned to face his two remaining enemies. His eyes burned white, and he growled like a beast._

_Mal Daggur, the craven coward, literally turned tail and fled. Enraged by this, he snarled and dropped to all fours before bounding after the fleeing Noble. He grabbed Mal Daggur's tail and yanked sharply, causing the Noble to drop to his stomach. He began dragging him to and fro, as if in revenge for his treatment in their first battle. He tugged again and pinned the Noble's tail down with one foot while he braced his right hand against Mal Daggur's neck. He reached down and gripped the upper rim of the spiked shell with his left hand. Mal Daggur growled in protest and squirmed under his enemy's grip when he felt a stinging pressure in his back. His foe snarled as he tugged up on the shell. With a wet crunch, he peeled the spiked shell clean off, tearing out several vertebrae along with it. Mal Daggur let out a feeble shout before falling limp._

_He tossed the shell away and turned his attention to the last of his enemies._ "Wretched mortal, DIE!" _Talpa rumbled and pointed a sword at him but grunted when his enemy pounced and tackled him to the ground easily. He reached down and peeled off the wing-shaped plate from the cuirass and flung it away. The sharp ivory-white claws tore into the chest plate as he slashed again and again, roaring all the while. He kept flaying off strip after strip of armor even after Talpa ceased struggling and the red light in his eyes went dark. Metal flew to either side._

"That's enough!" _A small hand grabbed his wrist. He snarled angrily and looked over his shoulder. He frowned when he saw her, and the light in his eyes dimmed. He stared up at her, bewildered by her bravery. Her hand barely spanned the width of his wrist, yet she stood there without fear; her brazen glare meeting his white eyes and white slit-shaped pupils._

* * *

"GAAAH!" Kento yelped and sat up straight in bed. He looked down at his hands and turned them over, flexing the fingers. He glanced to the side and saw Cye snoozing peacefully. Dawn had yet to break outside. Kento grumbled irritably before burying his face in his palms.

"Kento?" Kento lowered his hands and saw Ryo leaning into the room. "Doc's here. He's waiting for you down below," he said. Kento nodded and tossed aside the covers. He donned the baggiest, loosest clothes he had before heading out and down to the small closet. No one else seemed to be awake that early. Good thing, too. He didn't want anyone to see…well, he didn't want anyone to see. He rode the cable lift down the main shaft and arrived in the main cavern. His footsteps echoed dully through the immense chamber. He leaned into the infirmary.

"Doc?" Charles O'Connor looked up from setting up some equipment. "I'm ready."

"Ah, morning there. I trust you had a good, filling breakfast before you came down?"

"Yeah," Kento said on the way to one of the beds. "I had a few nutrition bars."

"…A 'few'?" Charles wrinkled his nose and moved his head back slightly.

"Well, three…or four…or five….okay, I had the whole case," Kento admitted sheepishly. Charles chuckled and shook his head. Kento hauled himself onto the bed. It squeaked loudly under his weight. He looked up when he saw Charles approach, syringe in hand.

"You don't have to do this if you don't want to," Charles said softly. Kento glanced from him to the syringe and stared at it several moments then started nodding slowly.

"Actually, I do. If I'm going to be saddled with this for the long haul, I have to learn how it works. I _don't_ want a repeat of what happened yesterday." He didn't say so aloud, but he also had to consider the very real possibility that there might not _BE_ a cure. Kento sighed and rolled up the sleeve on his left arm. "Do it." Charles nodded understandingly and swabbed the area with alcohol. Kento grimaced when he felt the needle pierce his skin. "So, what's this stuff supposed to do anyway?" he asked as he started to pull his sleeve back over his arm.

"Well, typically, I administer this stuff to patients in the throes of cardiac arrest. Now, in your case, it can do one of two things; It can either make you super hyper, or, it can trigger your…um…'ability'," Charles shrugged as he withdrew and disposed of the syringe. He'd gotten the call from Ryo fairly early in the morning, and he loosely described Kento's predicament. He had yet to see it himself, but he still considered himself a professional. "Feel anything yet?" he asked while he began turning on monitoring equipment.

"Nope. Nothing yet," Kento shook his head and rapped his fingers against his stomach.

"It'll probably take awhile to work its way through your bloodstream. I'm glad they let me bring some of my own stuff down here. I didn't quite have the time to go through a crash course in alien languages. Here, just need to…" Charles muttered as he pulled sensor buds attached to wires and walked over to Kento. "Still nothing?" Charles asked as he began attaching sensors.

"Nuh uh. Just butterflies in the stomach, that sorta thing…Heh, reminds me of my youngest sister. She tried to keep butterflies as pets one time, and she got all upset when they died. I mean, they're butterflies, ya know? They're not like dogs or cats; you can't name them." Kento shook his head and chuckled then frowned, looking worried. "…Doc…I-It's started."

"Where about did you feel it?" Charles asked and leaned close.

"Here, right here," Kento gulped and placed a hand over his side.

"Close to your kidneys...about where the adrenal glands are located. That sounds consistent with Tar's theory…" Charles fetched more sensor buds and stuck them onto Kento's wrists.

"Ohh boy…ohhboyohhboyohhboy, it's coming, it's coming," Kento grimaced.

"Try to stay calm," Charles reassured.

"How am I supposed to stay calm if you said this stuff's supposed to make me hyper?"

"Clear your thoughts, that sorta thing," Charles rolled his eyes and got another set of buds. "Here, that should give me a full readout of your-" Kento's hand shot up and he gripped Charles' wrist suddenly, squeezing tightly. Charles sucked in air through his teeth when he saw Kento tilt his head up to look at him. The pupils had turned white, and a soft growl emitted from his throat. "Kento…let go of me. Please. Kento, let go. Please," Charles whispered. Kento seemed to struggle with himself. "Let go of me, please," Charles repeated. Kento's hand shook then he released Charles and reached up and grabbed his shoulders, digging his fingers into his jacket.

"G-G-Get b-back," Kento warned and hunched over. Charles' eyes darted from him to the machines and he watched the lines fluctuate wildly. Kento's fingers twitched and he splayed his fingers suddenly, not wanting to tear the fabric. Charles watched utterly bewildered, horrified, and fascinated upon seeing something familiar change into a form unfamiliar. Kento slid off the bed and sank to one knee. He reached up and grabbed the edge of the bed with his left hand. The machines beeped shrilly and the tight zigzag went completely flat as the sensors popped off the skin. He let out a grunting roar and braced his right palm against the floor.

Charles stared down at the transformed human, maintaining his composure on the outside while his heart beat wildly on the inside. Kento knelt there panting heavily from exhaustion, growling like a wild animal. "Kento…are you there?" Charles asked warily. The transformed Ronin Warrior tilted his head up and fixed glowing white eyes upon the doctor. "Kento…is that you?" The bone-white eyebrows furrowed slightly. Then the eyes dimmed.

"Yeah, I'm here," he grunted and pushed himself off the floor, standing well over two feet taller than the doctor. He sat back down on the bed, but the creak it made sounded no different.

"Good gracious, Kento! That-that looked like it hurt like hell!" Charles remarked.

"Certainly feels that way," Kento winced and rubbed his throat with his palm. He didn't like the way his voice sounded and coughed a few times to clear his throat. "You sure it was a good idea sticking around? I could've had another lapse," he said, his voice sounding close to normal.

"Well, you certainly gave me a fright, but I didn't feel like I was in any real danger. Besides, Ryo asked the alien captain to station some of his people outside in the event of an emergency. One of them looked pretty eager for the assignment…pretty big too, bigger than you, in fact."

"Sounds like Koi. Poor guy, he's probably itching to beat me up. I don't blame him…"

"Yikes! If I'm reading this correctly…your heart rate…that high would've killed a normal person!" Charles exclaimed as he examined the records from before the sensors lost contact. Kento hummed and frowned, and Charles flinched. He had to watch his words carefully. "Seems to put your endocrine system through the wringer too…it's definitely preceded by a sharp increase in adrenaline," while Charles theorized, Kento reached up intending to scratch the inside of his ear. He paused, however, and glanced at his hand and the sharp claws that tipped his fingers. He sighed and lowered his hand, deciding that might be a bad idea.

"Does that mean this is gonna happen every time I get excited? That might be a problem…"

"Well, I wouldn't say it's triggered by any particular emotion. I'd wager it has more to do with your fight-or-flight response. Although in your case, it's 'fight' more often than not." Kento smirked and shrugged his shoulders. His clothes fit pretty tight but comfortably. "Here, I'll need to test your blood…" he walked over with a clean syringe and Kento tugged his left arm out of the jacket sleeve. Charles tried to push the needle in, but it bent. "Kento…"

"Sorry!" Kento winced apologetically. Charles walked over to his table to fetch a new syringe. He looked over his shoulder at Kento and cocked his head to one side.

"How do you do that anyway?" he asked as he walked back over to the bed.

"I have _no_ idea, honestly. I think my skin senses pointy things incoming, sorta like the Thangiens, you figure?" Charles pulled a metal pen out of his front coat pocket and rapped it against Kento's arm. The pen bounced off with a hollow tap. Charles wrinkled his nose and grunted. Kento tried to relax, and Charles managed to work the needle into the tough skin.

"There, that wasn't so bad-WHOA!" Charles staggered back suddenly, leaving the syringe sticking into Kento's skin. Kento looked down and much to his dismay saw bluish fluid inside. Charles stepped back over and pulled the needle out and raised the syringe, peering at the contents. The fluid slowly changed to a bold red. "That…that was…unusual…" Charles muttered while he prepared the sample for testing. Kento frowned and spotted a metal tray covered by a towel lying on a nearby table. He reached over and tweaked off the towel then picked up the tray and brought it close. It looked relatively new and shiny.

He had yet to see his own reflection, and he tilted the tray up slightly. He didn't _look_ different…yet he looked _different_. He frowned upon seeing the thick white eyebrows and white eyes with white slit-shaped pupils. His cheeks looked bigger too… He curled his lip slightly and checked his canines. Charles glanced over his shoulder and noticed, but kept quiet. Kento sighed and set the tray back on the table and drummed his claws against his stomach.

"You got anything I can eat?" he asked abruptly. Charles made a face and glanced at him before reaching into his front shirt pocket. He pulled out something and held it out towards Kento. Kento reached out and pinched the red lollipop between his left index finger and thumb. He stared at the lollipop for several seconds then glanced up at Charles, pouting.

"What? You asked," Charles shrugged. Kento grumbled thanks and tore off the wrapper. He stuck the candy between his molars and cracked it noisily in one chomp. Charles turned his attention to the data from earlier. He heard a faint tapping and glanced over his shoulder to see Kento apparently testing the sharpness of his claws by slicing off bits of the paper stick. Charles raised an eyebrow and glanced back at the screen. "According to this, in order for your body to grow, your skeleton suffers multiple micro-fractures, and new bone grows in between."

"ow!" Kento remarked and raised both eyebrows.

"'Ow' is right. It's a wonder the pain alone doesn't cause you to pass out… Speaking of pain, your injuries from the other day completely healed, right?"

"Kayura used practically an entire Richtho bush on me. But now that I think about it, I could've sworn I'd broken some ribs before the fight, but I didn't feel anything after…"

"It might be that your body is able to heal itself in the process of transforming, but not while transformed or when reverting to normal. Your body can only allocate so much energy towards regeneration. I'm fairly certain if this had happened to anyone else, the strain alone would've outright killed them. That you've adapted so well is a testament to your physical conditioning." Charles meant it as a reassurance, but Kento felt unsettled by the thought. The testing machine beeped. "Finally. Let's see here…everything looks in order…hold on…" Charles peered close at the results from the blood test. "…I'm reading a significant amount of cobalt in your blood."

"What's that?"

"Well, it's a metal. It's used in certain alloys and as a blue tint…" Charles frowned thoughtfully and glanced to the side. "You know what…I think that might explain things." He turned to face Kento. "At some point, when you transformed the very first time, in the city, you absorbed a great deal of cobalt from the nearby environment. Your body retained it and adapted it for use, and it's mixing with the iron in your blood, causing that purplish color."

"There any way to get rid of it?" Kento asked and looked at his hand.

"Huh?" Charles wrinkled his nose and cocked his head.

"You said it's in my blood, right? There any way to get it out?"

"Kento, you're not a flamingo. Changing your diet isn't going to change how you look," Charles placed a knuckle on his hip. "Besides, it contributes to your skin's resilience."

"I know, but- okay, Tar and Kayura keep saying I'm still human, despite all this," Kento waved his hand close to his face. "But humans don't look like this, okay? Humans don't have purple skin and white hair and claws and weird glowy eyes-"

"Which is probably a chemical reaction tied to adrenaline-"

"What I'm trying to say is-look, I don't mind being super strong or anything, it's just…I don't want to look like I'd scare people," Kento admitted. Charles' expression softened and he just then noticed how Kento sat slightly hunched over, as if trying to appear smaller. Charles searched around and spotted a high metal stool over by another table. He grabbed it and pulled it over then perched himself atop it so he sat at eye-level with the transformed human.

"I'm no psychologist, but I understand. You're an outgoing person by nature; you feel your transformed state alienates you from others. Humans fear what they don't understand; by that frame of logic, the people that are your friends will know you for who you are, and the people that _aren't_ will be justly afraid of you. Take now, for example; we're talking, we're able to carry on a conversation," Charles flicked his index fingers back and forth at himself and Kento.

"You're completely lucid, in full possession of your mental faculties. You didn't have a lapse, and there's no telling what caused your previous lapses. It could be any number of factors; physical stress, emotional stress, psychological stress," Charles ticked off on his fingers. "I mean, I've seen what you go through, and I have to be honest; Rick Baker would find himself hard pressed to make something look _that_ painful. It could be that super-intensive battles cause you to enter a sort of 'berserker state', forcing higher brain functions to go on the back burner. I can't think of many people that can say they've gone twelve rounds with a despotic dinosaur…"

"That's cuz there aren't…well, _alive_, at least," Kento commented, recalling how Mal Daggur had gloated about killing Danae's father, the Thangien hero Ander. "Doc…do _you_ think there's a chance I could ever be cured completely?" Kento asked softly, frowning.

"I can't answer that, Kento. I'm only here to assess your physical condition," Charles shook his head and waved both hands before hopping off the stool. "Although I think it's safe to say that if there is a power in the world that can restore you, it's not one currently in our address book." Kento sighed in resignation and fidgeted in his seat. "Kayura and Tar seem to be of the mind that meditation and discipline will prevent future lapses. I'm not one to gainsay them."

"Do you believe any of what the Thunthen say about this being my 'aspect'?"

"Well…if by that you mean aspect of stubbornness, recklessness, outgoingness, hyper-activeness, belligerence, resilience, impatience-" Charles counted off on his fingertips. "Eagerness, brashness, cheerfulness, impulsive fighting, and impulsive eating, then I'd definitely subscribe to that theory." Charles turned to look at Kento and saw the expression on his face. "Whaaat? Kento, you know I'm just teasing you." Charles shrugged and tilted his palms upward.

"Yeah, but you didn't have to be so honest about it," Kento grumbled sullenly before shrugging and cracking a smile. Charles smirked and looked back at his monitor.

"There's one more test I should probably do…here…I usually carry around one of these…" Charles rummaged around in his bag and pulled out a sheet of paper. He walked over to the far wall and tacked up a paper covered in letters. "Can you read the bottom-most line?"

Kento squinted and leaned forward slightly. "'Printed and distributed by-'"

"Whoawhoawhoa, hold on a minute! You…you can read that?" Charles exclaimed wide-eyed and peered close at the sheet at the tiniest line of print at the very bottom.

"Yeah," Kento shrugged. Charles walked over and fetched a penlight from his pocket. Kento growled in objection when Charles shone the light into his eye but let the doctor perform his examination. Charles noticed how the slit-shaped pupil contracted to a thin line.

"Amazing…the way your eye reshapes itself, it allows you to process much clearer images. I imagine your other senses are heightened as well," Charles said and pocketed the light. "All things considered, you seem be perfectly healthy, in fact I'd go as far as to say _better_ than perfect. You don't seem to be suffering ill effects from the cobalt in your blood. However, I think we should discuss making some changes to your diet."

"Did you just use the 'D' word?!" Kento exclaimed and sat bolt upright, looking worried.

"Well, yeah. Kento, you've obviously gone through some pretty drastic physiological changes. The process of transforming demands a lot of energy, and maintaining that form even more so."

"What's wrong with eating like I always do?" Kento shrugged dismissively.

"You mean like a goat? Kento, when was the last time you used the bathroom?" Kento opened his mouth to speak but paused. He started to speak again but frowned in worry. "I suspected as much. I heard the first time you transformed that way, you cleaned out nearly the entire load of a grocery truck. If you hadn't adapted as well as you had, I'm fairly certain you would've eaten the truck…_and_ the driver," Charles added with a grimace. Kento averted his gaze, nauseous at the thought. "Plus, I hear you still owe Roxi a side of beef."

"Ugh! Don't remind me!" Kento moaned. Even when lapsed, nothing deterred him from food. He wondered how things might've played out if Roxi had been wielding her Sharps…

"You know the old adage; You are what you eat? Your body's become so efficient, nothing goes to waste and everything gets put to use. Your nutritional needs are much greater than before, and you can probably get more with less especially if you want to keep Mia on your good side. I recommend increased protein and carbohydrate intake, though you should refrain from cholesterol, oil, starches, sugars…" Kento's white eyes widened in increasing horror as Charles listed all of his favorite foods. He bit his lip and scratched behind his ear.

"What about raw cookie dough?" he asked warily.

"What?! No! No! No! GOSH no! no!" Charles exclaimed, disgusted by the notion.

"Okay, that's it, I can't live like this…you got something pointy I can use?" Kento grumbled and reached for a nearby pair of scissors. He tapped it against his stomach halfheartedly, but Charles strode over and snatched it out of his hand promptly.

"Give me thaaat," he scolded and tossed the scissors onto a tray. Kento didn't resist. "I'm certain Cye can find some suitable traditional dishes. It'll just take some getting used to." Kento flicked his white eyes up at the doctor and scowled. "Hrm…right…poor choice of words…" Charles grimaced apologetically and flinched. "I can have a list printed out for Cye…" He looked back at his screen to search for the file he had in mind. Kento slid off the bed and walked over to stand behind him and leaned forward to study the screen. Charles didn't seem bothered at all, and Kento couldn't hear any change in the doctor's heart rate. Kento smiled, comforted by the doctor's composure. "As long as you're more or less yourself, you'll be fine."

"So, we done then?" Kento asked. Charles glanced up at him and nodded. Kento walked back to the bed and braced his palms against the edge for support. Charles watched as Kento changed back to normal. Kento faltered slightly and shook his head, feeling dizzy.

"You might wanna pace yourself when doing that," Charles warned.

"But, I thought you said I use up a lot of energy when in that form," Kento glanced at him.

"Yeah, but transforming then reverting in such a short window puts your body through significant shock." Kento frowned, not wanting to spend more time in that form than absolutely necessary. "Hey, think of it this way; it gives you an excuse to eat more." Kento grinned at that notion. "You're free to go. I'll get this sent up to Cye shortly."

"Cool. Thanks a ton, Doc!" Kento waved then headed for the doorway. He'd barely crossed the threshold when he noticed something off to the right. "WHOA! Oh! Hey, Koi!" Kento cringed, almost regretting changing back so soon. Even when sitting on the floor, Koi Udsarrin still loomed above him. The Rare turned his huge head to look at Kento. "Hey, listen, I'm _really_ sorry about the whole 'tearing the crap out of your face' yesterday. I totally wasn't myself at the time…" The flesh had healed, but the scales and scale fibers had yet to grow back, leaving Koi's right eye exposed and looking quite angry. "So, um…we still buds?"

Kento tensed as Koi leaned close, bringing his huge snout within an inch of Kento's face. Koi snorted air into Kento's face before leaning away and returning to doing his impression of an Easter Island monolith. "I wouldn't let it bother you so much if I were you," Kento looked over his shoulder and saw Rgn Chorrez leaning against the opposite edge of the doorway. "He's got a relatively short term memory…unlike the _rest_ of us," Rgn added with a scowl.

Kento frowned and walked away feeling guilty. He deserved to feel guilty. Discipline and meditation; he couldn't let himself lose control ever again. He passed close to the conference room on his way to the lifts and paused when he heard many voices. He walked over and peered inside the room, surprised to see the Elders and Danae and Michelle. "Hey, what's this about?"

"It's our official 'moving-in' party!" Cale crowed and raised both arms.

"We finished settling in, so now you get to see more of our cheerful faces," Anubis grinned.

"And now that we no longer have to spend most of our paycheck paying rent, we had so much spare cash we thought we'd celebrate," Dais added.

"Hey, you want some cheesecake?" Sehkmet asked between mouthfuls and pointed at his plate. Kento spotted various desserts and beverages displayed atop the conference table. Kento glanced from Sehkmet to the table but sighed and shook his head.

"Nah…I'm gonna pass…" The Elders stared at him in disbelief.

"Did…did…did Kento just refuse food? Someone get a medic down here fast!" Cale yelled.

"It's not that! It's just-" Kento sputtered and waved both hands.

"Oh come ooon! There's plenty to go around!" Michelle encouraged.

"I can't! I-I-I really shouldn't," Kento shook his head.

"But…it's…cheesecake…" Sehkmet argued. Kento frowned. "Cheeeeeeeesecaaaake," Sehkmet sang and waved his plate around in a tight circle. Kento could feel himself salivating. "Here, I'll cut half a slice for you. See? Should be fine," Sehk did so and offered the plate. Kento glanced from him to the plate several times, torn. He shrugged and smirked.

"Oh allright, one slice can't hurt," he said and reached for the plate. Just as his fingertips touched the edge, Sehkmet yanked the plate away from him.

"Wait, _now_ I remember why you can't eat any sweets! It's because of your _diet_ isn't it?" Kento's face and heart fell at that remark. His arms went limp at his sides.

"Shame too," Cale took the plate from Sehkmet and began eating. "It's absolutely delicious, like it was flown in from New York on the wings of angels. The texture is just-mmh!"

"You guys are so mean!" "Of all the immature-" "That was totally uncalled for!" "Thablisk…" He heard Michelle, Anubis, Dais, and Danae speaking up in his defense, but his gaze grew distant and glassy. "You should see the look on his face!" "Priceless!" Sehkmet and Cale guffawed uncontrollably, practically in tears. He felt his left eyelid start twitching.

They may have eavesdropped, but they obviously hadn't spied in on the session, and Cale and Sehk gasped upon hearing the rattling growl. They saw Kento with arms raised and fingers splayed. He bared his teeth angrily at the two Elders and his pupils contracted and turned white, glowing faintly. Cale and Sehkmet jumped into each other's arms, embracing tightly.

"WHOA! TAKE IT EASY! IT WAS JUST A JOKE! IT WAS A JOKE! IT WAS A JOKE!"

The sound of shattering ceramic startled Kento out of his enraged trance and he blinked in surprise, his eyes reverting to normal quickly. He saw Michelle with her hands clamped over her mouth, having dropped the plate she'd been holding. Anubis and Dais had risen out of their seats and Danae had drawn her father's sword halfway. Cale and Sehkmet still clutched onto each other, shaking hysterically. Kento lowered his arms and stepped back, feeling sick with realization. He averted his gaze and turned and walked away ashamed.

"H-H-Holy sh-sh-it!" Cale and Sehk whimpered simultaneously through chattering teeth.

Completely oblivious to the happenings next door, Ryo and Rowen consulted with Bak Thraplek and Naz Dassyr in the comm. room while Miz Paufan took notes of the discussion.

"So far we've shipped over a hundred Nobles and Commons to Thanged," Rowen stated.

"At this rate, Mal Daggur won't have an army left to fight with," Ryo beamed. Bak and Naz exchanged glances, looking almost troubled by the optimism.

"How old would you say Miz is?" Naz asked abruptly and pointed at Miz, who blinked.

"…about as old as I am," Ryo replied and shrugged. Bak and Naz looked at Miz expectantly. The little Common blushed and put away his screen tablet and cleared his throat.

"Two," he stated matter-of-factly and tilted his muzzle up slightly.

"Decades?" Ryo asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Cycles. So that's, what, four years their time?" Miz asked and looked at Bak.

"Six. Our year is longer than Thanged's," Bak corrected. Miz let out an 'ah' and nodded. "We mature fairly quickly out of the egg." Ryo and Rowen looked disheartened by the statement.

"There is one ship we neglected to inform you about," Naz leaned over to the console and called up an image. "This is the _Nsenagvvik_, 'His Father's Fist', Mal Daggur's personal flagship. It carries a staff of matrons; powerful dames charged with producing and rearing the next generation. In the time it would take you to apprehend all of our wayward kinsmen and make them 'repent of their misdeeds', a new army would have matured ready to serve."

"The only way to bring a decisive end to this conflict would be to deliver such a blow as to shake the confidence our people have in Mal Daggur as Supreme High Overlord. Other High Overlords could be encouraged to contend for the mantle if they discerned weakness. Unfortunately, Mal Daggur covered up his defeat at Kento's hands fairly swiftly," Bak said.

"Ryo…maybe we should think about using-" Rowen began, sounding reluctant.

"NO," Ryo said firmly and glared at Rowen. "I won't even _consider_ using _that_," he growled and exited the room swiftly. Bak and Naz exchanged confused glances. Rowen sighed, apparently sympathetic with Ryo's attitude.

* * *

Cye found him on the balcony leaning against the rail. He kept his gaze at the ground while he approached and slouched against the rail beside him. "I scared them. I didn't want to."

"Well, in all fairness Cale and Sehk _were_ asking for it, and Michelle's more worried about you than anything," Cye reasoned. Kento sighed grimly and rubbed his wrists.

"How many know…about…well…you know…"

"We're not gossips, but I imagine by now most everyone's inferred that there's something a tad bit off about you…Just give it time. No one got hurt, and you wouldn't have knowingly harmed anyone. You're still yourself deep down." Kento still looked troubled by doubt and hummed to himself. "Look, why don't you go wash up and get ready. Mia and I are working on dinner for everyone. Oh don't look so glum!" Cye chuckled when he saw Kento pout, obviously about his medically-mandated diet. "I've gone over the list Doc sent over. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised," Cye assured and walked back inside. Kento lingered by the railing and looked over his shoulder before pushing away and heading inside himself.

He took off his jacket and shut the bathroom door behind him and ran the water to rinse his hands and face. He shut the water off and looked at his reflection. The suspicion had been nagging at him since the other day, but he felt certain that some elements of his "aspect" somehow "leaked" into his normal form. _Normal_… Kento frowned and glanced at the side. Charles had neglected to run one type of test. He stared at the simple bathroom scale a few moments then scooted towards it. He raised one leg and set his foot on the plate gently.

The dial spun wildly, passing his previous recorded weight in just seconds. He yanked his foot away and recoiled in shock. Apparently his "Outer Self" weighed as much as his "Inner Self". Kento sighed and leaned against the counter. He looked at the mirror again. His eyes looked…_fiercer_. He clenched his fist and growled, feeling compelled to drive his fist into the glass and through the wall behind it. Just as quickly, he relaxed and hummed sadly. He exited the bathroom, seething over Cale and Sehkmet's mockery and depressed by Cye's optimism.

"Nnnfh!" he heard the annoyed grunt when he felt himself bump into someone. He took a step back and looked down slightly. She scowled up at him with simmering bronze-brown eyes.

"OH! Tanya! Jeez! I am _so_ sorry! I _totally_ wasn't watching where I was going! Please don't cuss me out cuz that really does hurt my feelings," Kento's frustration from earlier immediately faded and he cringed meekly. "And don't kick me in the crotch either cuz that actually _does_ hurt: physically," Kento raised both hands and rubbed the back of his head. "Um…hey, listen, I know you don't like me, but I just wanted to tell you." Tanya arched an eyebrow at that remark. "I forgot to thank you the other day for bandaging my wounds, so I-"

"You did say 'thank you'."

"Huh?" Kento blinked dumbly, startled by the calm interjection.

"You did say 'thank you'. You were your other self at the time, so that's probably why you don't remember," Tanya explained and shrugged idly. Kento blinked several times.

"Oh…um…okay…well…this is _me_…_my_self saying 'thank you', not the…the _other_ me…" Kento managed and pressed a hand against his chest.

"…okay…" Tanya blinked slowly. He privately called it her "Dead Stare"; a difficult-to-describe expression somewhere between irritated and indifferent. The Lady Ronin didn't so much as have friends among the Ronin Warriors as much as she merely tolerated them…

"Okay…well…um…oh! I almost forgot! Here, I found these on me after the battle." Kento reached into his rear pocket and fished out the two elastic bands. Tanya glanced at them. "I thought I should return them. I think I got all of the blood out. I washed them as best I could-"

"Toss'em." Tanya shook her head and shrugged.

"Uh, what?" Kento frowned, confused.

"They're useless now. The elastic's too strained, they wouldn't stay tight." Kento glanced at the bands dangling between his fingertips. "It's no big deal. They're pretty cheap and easy to replace. I already got new ones, see?" Tanya reached up to one ponytail and peeled back the puffy outer band to demonstrate. "Just throw them away."

"Oh…okay…well…I'll go do that then…um…bye…" Kento turned to leave.

"Kento." He flinched and turned back around. He could count on one hand the number of times Tanya had ever called him by name, so it startled him. "If I didn't like you, I'd say so," she said calmly before turning to head downstairs. Kento remained there staring after her for several moments. He closed his fingers around the bands before quietly replacing them in his pocket.

* * *

_"You are cleared for landing. You may proceed."_

"Otoin." The triangular craft cleared the bay doors and fired its boosters. The bay and vacuum shields sealed tight as the craft landed. A group of twenty Nobles in formal regalia approached the craft and stood forming an aisle leading from the craft's boarding ramp. A tall male Noble stepped onto the deck, and the awaiting Nobles greeted him with claw salutes and coiled tails. "Ahhh, the rapt attention of the adoring masses…how I've missed that," cracked wrinkled lips peeled up over chipped yellowed teeth. Long pure-white scale fibers hung from the lower jaw. The overhead lights of the bay reflected off the patch that covered his left eye. He wore overlapping leather that gave him the appearance of wearing a long black trench coat with a harness over his chest containing many weapons. Metal guards covered the forearms.

The ancient Noble tilted his muzzle up and sniffed the air a few times, sneering. "And the _stench_ of metal and grease…now _that_ I _never_ miss." He walked down the aisle of at-attention Nobles and glanced from side to side. "As I came in for landing, I noticed _Hammer of the Stars_ had taken quite a beating recently. Run into a bit of trouble on your campaign?" the Noble drawled casually. The gathered Nobles exchanged nervous glances.

"Bru Ranir awaits your presence in the command chambers," one young Noble stated.

"Bru Ranir? …since when did _he_ become Supreme High Overlord," the ancient Noble sniffed and proceeded to exit the bay and enter the corridor. He arrived at his destination and the doors slid open to reveal a shadowed room. He spotted the blood-red bearded Bru Ranir standing off to one side of a metal table. A large figure sat in the shadows behind the table.

"Plaedarr Bloodhun…you honor us with your exalted presence," Bru Ranir greeted and bowed, displaying his shell. The ancient Noble returned the gesture and glanced at the shadowed figure. He could spot a pair of eyes glittering in the darkness, staring icily at him.

"No words for an old family friend?" Plaedarr Bloodhun chuckled.

"The Supreme High Overlord will speak when he deems fit. For the time being, you will direct your questions to me," Bru Ranir interjected. Plaedarr arched a white eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest. Bru Ranir picked up a tablet screen and tapped the screen with his thumb claw, calling up an image. "This is one of the Ronin Warriors; _'Morind de Witheren'_, as they are called by the Thangiens. He is a commendable fighter with some rather…interesting abilities…" Bru Ranir scowled when he saw Plaedarr close his eye and sniff the air repeatedly.

Plaedarr opened his eye and a red-tinted nictitating membrane slid over the eyeball. He focused first on the table to get his bearings then tilted his vision up to see who sat in the shadows. Bru Ranir intervened, however, before he could get a good look.

"If you feel that you are incapable of apprehending the target, then I can easily call upon another Bloodhun…perhaps one younger, more agile…" Plaedarr closed his eye and opened it, retracting the membrane. He glanced at the image displayed on the tablet and sniffed.

"I will bring this one _cowed_ before you," he stated and turned to leave. He paused and looked over his shoulder at the Noble behind the table. Plaedarr drawled a coarse question in the Thunthen language and grinned toothily. The glittering eyes in the shadows narrowed. Plaedarr Bloodhun threw back his head and cackled richly as he walked out into the corridor.

"Hif wil fal…" a wet raspy voice hissed.

"You shouldn't be speaking!" Bru Ranir argued and turned around. The shadowed figure tapped his claws against the table's surface then drew them across, creating a piercing shriek.

"He…will…fail…"

* * *

Dais had not boasted idly about how much the Elders contributed to the household budget. He even promised to pay for over half the weekly food bill from here on out, considering how much work Dais, Sehk, and Cale got as a result of the recent commotion in the city. The Ronin took the opportunity to celebrate the double rout of both the Dynasty and Thunthen forces. The guys helped Mia pull extra chairs and tables out of storage and set them up in the dining room for what would be the first time ever that they all enjoyed dinner together.

Danae almost looked like a different person, as she'd traded her combat uniform for some of Mia's old clothes and tied her lavender hair up in a bushy ponytail. She still insisted on wearing her father's sword to the table, though. Cye and Kayura helped Mia set out plates and glasses in preparation for the feast while Michelle and Ryo carried out bowls heaped high with food. Kento seated himself carefully, hoping he'd picked the sturdiest chair available. The wood creaked under his weight but held. If it broke…that'd be embarrassing. The other members of the household seated themselves along the table. Cale and Sehkmet obviously gave him a wide berth. Whiteblaze made his rounds, looking for offerings of food, but when Kento reached out to pet him, the tiger shied away from him and eyed him warily. Kento frowned and sighed.

No one talked about him, but they all talked to each other. Anubis staunchly refused to eat a dish his daughter had made especially for him-something she called "Southwestern Style"-due to the presence of a particular ingredient. Michelle argued something about "beans and rice are nice". Rowen commented that Thanged lacked legumes, but a deep-soil fungus served a similar purpose. Anubis replied that he found that even _less_ appetizing. Kayura tried to explain to Michelle how picky her father could be. Kento looked up when he heard his name called and saw Anubis trying to offer him his plate but Michelle swatted him on the arm, insisting that he eat.

Mia sat at the head of the table with Ryo seating himself to the left of her, and she commented on how she'd tried offering the Thunthen ice cream and they'd fallen in love with the stuff. Dais mentioned that Thunthen considered dairy products a guilty pleasure, and Danae recounted an event centuries ago when a Noble warlord had been placated with offerings of milk. Sage joked that they should negotiate a truce with Planet Thunthen using ice cream. Ryo didn't actively participate in conversation, but he seemed pleased at seeing everyone interacting.

Kento frowned when he saw Tanya sitting at the far end of the table. She ate quietly and while no one steered any conversation her way, she seemed perfectly content with that. Kento hesitated then opened his mouth to speak. He paused when he heard a clank and saw a laden plate being placed before him. He glanced to the side and saw Cye smiling at him encouragingly. Kento knew he wanted to make him feel comfortable about his diet. He didn't want to get distracted by food and glanced back at Tanya…but it smelled so good…

An hour and four similarly-heaped plates later, Kento looked on the verge of slipping into another food coma. "Oofgh…Oh man…I am _stuffed_!" he wheezed and slouched in his chair with his head tilted back and his right arm over his stomach. Cale and Sehk eyed him jealously while Danae and Kayura helped Mia clear empty plates. "I couldn't possibly eat another bite…" he puffed his cheeks out in a deep breath. Then he pitched forward suddenly. "Oh, maybe I could! Gotta be like the Thangiens; can't be wasteful!" he proceeded to shovel the remainder of his fifth plate into his mouth. Danae chuckled heartily at that remark and shook her head.

"…I wish _we_ could have special gourmet diets…" Cale grumbled.

"Sorry mate," Cye patted him on the shoulder as he walked past collecting empty glasses. "You gotta have a doctor-recognized medical condition!" Cale scowled and Sehkmet frowned.

"I'm insane! Doesn't that count?" he piped up and looked at Cye.

"You're not insane, you're an idiot," Dais sneered from his seat.

"…I know…" Sehk pouted in a tiny voice and hunched over. Anubis hadn't touched his plate, but Michelle refused to let him leave the table without eating. She'd folded her arms over the table, resting her chin atop and watched Anubis half-lidded. She looked as if she'd dozed off, and Anubis tried to step out of his chair, but Michelle jolted awake and made a funny chittering squawk and pointed at him until he sat back down. She returned to keeping watch.

"So…who's going on patrol tonight?" Sage brought up suddenly. Ryo, Rowen, and Cye exchanged glances. Kento finished clearing his last plate and wiped his mouth with a napkin.

"I'll go," he said and pushed back his chair, which groaned in complaint.

"I dunno, Kento. You really should let someone else take it tonight. Rowen can-" Ryo began.

"What, because you don't think I can handle myself?" Kento snapped suddenly.

"I didn't say that! Stop trying to put words in my mouth!" Ryo protested. "I'm just saying we should all share the burden, so someone else should take a turn this time."

"I'm perfectly capable of holding my own," Kento sniffed and stuck up his chin.

"Yeah! Because that _clearly_ worked out so well for you _last_ time!" Ryo argued. He realized what he'd said when he saw Kento level his glare at him. "…I-I-I didn't mean-"

"I know you didn't. That's why I need to be the one to go," Kento interrupted and stood up, stepping away from the table. "I'll call in if I spot anything," he waved and exited the room.

All eyes turned to the chair he'd been using when they heard a loud wooden creak and suddenly the chair popped apart at the joints, collapsing into a heap. Everyone looked confused, but Anubis tried to use the sound to mask his movements. Michelle caught him, however.

* * *

Kento sat on a roof edge with his bo in his lap. At first he didn't remember details of the fight, then the memory of a limping bloodied Mal Daggur came back to haunt him. "_This isn't over, Ronin Warrior!"_ The blood-red bearded Noble's warning played in his thoughts.

"_When it comes, do not be afraid, for it is merely an aspect of you, it isn't_ you!"

_How well can I control this thing? Will I always stay myself when it happens?_ He tightened his grip around his bo then shook his head. _Come on, you're supposed to keep watch. Stay focused!_ he scolded himself. He tried to relax and clear his mind. Meditation and discipline…

He went rigid suddenly. He knew some of his "aspect" abilities existed even in his normal state; heightened senses, increased awareness. He heard the sound of a heavy yet stealthy footstep and tensed as it approached. Kento stood up and whirled around, lashing out with his bo. A wrinkled orange-skinned hand gripped the shaft and held it fast. "Wha?!"

A very, very, very old-looking Thunthen Noble with a pure white beard and a patch over his left eye stood before Kento. He socked him with a right hook then thrust his tail club against Kento's chest, sending Kento off the building and onto a car. Before Kento had a chance to recover and pry himself from the crumpled wreck, the Noble sire sprang down and began seizing every heavy object in reach. It grabbed tires, cinder blocks, engine blocks, newsstands, trash cans and threw them into an ever-growing pile around Kento. Kento tried to push himself up but yelped when he saw the ancient Noble lift an entire dumpster and throw it onto the pile.

Plaedarr Bloodhun snorted in disgust and raised a palm-sized device. "Hunter's Chronicles, Quarry 786. Not the glorious capture I anticipated. Target was easily subdued, hardly worth one of _my_ renow-" He paused when he heard a creaking coming from under the dumpster. Loud groans and growls emitted from the pile. Plaedarr stepped back a few feet when he saw five pointed objects pierce the metal and squeeze, tearing a hole through the dumpster. Fingers closed around the edges of one side of the hole and another hand appeared and gripped the other. Both hands began pushing to either side, shoving the hole wider and wider.

Plaedarr recognized the armor, but the person wearing it looked considerably taller, and much bulkier. The faceplate covered all but the eyes, which glowed with a chilling white light. A low guttural growl escaped the human's throat. Black-armored hands gripped the bo tightly. The pointed fingertips tapped against the metal shaft. Plaedarr stared wide-eyed at the human.

"My client…neglected…to mention that…" Plaedarr Bloodhun spoke hoarsely into his recording device. The transformed human let out a rattling growl and stepped closer. Plaedarr folded his arms over his chest and stood straight with legs together. "Another time, perhaps." He crouched and sprang onto the wall and continued to wall jump until he reached roof level and took off running. Despite his age and size, he bounded across rooftops gracefully with amazing speed. He paused when he felt he'd run far enough. "Personal note; demand additional hazard pay-What!?" The side of the building Plaedarr stood on crumbled and began to collapse.

"AAHHHAARRRRAANNN!" Kento bellowed as he plunged his claws into the wall and tugged down as easily as yanking a sheet off a rail. Plaedarr scrambled to regain balance but ended up skidding along the debris wave, coming to a stop when his shell dug into the pavement. He pushed himself to stand and brushed dirt out of his beard. "Whoever sent you, I don't think they know who they're messing with," the human spoke in a deeper version of his original voice.

"No…I think they knew quite well, they just omitted the particulars," Plaedarr replied, startled. He smirked then lashed around with his tail, aiming to club the human in the face. Kento reached up and caught the tail club in his hand easily. Plaedarr's eye widened and he yelped when he felt his feet leave the ground as Kento swung him around and threw him back-first into a wall. A large section of the building broke away and folded in atop Plaedarr as he landed on his belly. He stood up shakily and lashed his tail. "Ohh…you're a fighter, aren't you? No wonder Mal Daggur issued a contract for you." Kento narrowed his white eyes at that statement and he growled angrily. "You should know who _I_ am! Rammaz Plaedarr: oldest and mightiest!"

Plaedarr Bloodhun threw open the black leather vest concealing his weapon harness and drew two pistols from their holsters. He aimed and opened fire, but Kento spun his bo and deflected the shots with ease. Kento tucked his bo under his left arm and placed his right palm atop it, leveling it like a rifle. The rounded tip split into sections and shot out on a cable, striking one of the pistols out of Plaedarr's hand. Plaedarr reached for another weapon but Kento clipped his bo to his back and clenched his fists together. He let out an echoing roar and struck the ground powerfully with both fists, sending a surge towards Plaedarr. The gun Plaedarr had been reaching for slipped out of his grasp and tumbled to one side while he sprawled to the other.

The ancient Noble gasped and looked up when he saw the human stalking towards him, claws splayed and eyes blazing. Plaedarr reached behind him and drew out another gun and took aim as Kento crouched to pounce. A blue-white pulse shot out and struck Kento at the waist. Kento roared when he felt his arms and legs go numb and he sank to hands and knees. He growled angrily and tried to move, but his limbs literally felt like stone. He froze when he heard a click and looked up to see Plaedarr aiming the gun between his eyes.

"Question; how do you stop a Grand Cresta from charging?" Kento recognized the gun as identical to the type Bak had almost used. "Why, with this, of course. I must admit I'm surprised: A nerve deadener can typically knock out an entire herd of the beasts, but you're a different sort of beast. Change back into your original form." Kento glared at him, seething. "Do it now. I know you can. I'd much rather you remain alive." Kento scowled but reluctantly obeyed. Plaedarr kept the gun trained on him as the human's body shrank. The armor creaked as it matched its wearer's size. "In all the time I've drawn breath, I've _never_ seen an _emdourachil_ before. Now I can say I have," Plaedarr smirked as Kento's faceplate slid open.

"Dude, if anything happens to me my friends will come!" Kento declared. Plaedarr's wrinkled lips spread in a smile and he turned the pistol around in his hand.

"Actually, I'm _counting_ on it," he said and struck Kento across the face with the weapon.

* * *

When Kento came to, he found himself in a damp cave with his ankles bound and his wrists tied behind his back. He saw the ancient Noble sitting several feet away, apparently busy assembling something. Kento sensed the earth ready to obey, but he noticed the nerve deadener lying close enough for the Noble to pick up quickly. If he tried anything directly, he'd be shot for sure. He glanced around the cave. _Come on Hardhead, think!_ Kento felt around with his fingertips and found the position of his restraints. He extended his right index finger at the ground before stroking upward. A small spike of rock rose up and pushed through the restraints.

"I wouldn't waste your time," Plaedarr Bloodhun drawled. Kento flinched and looked up, but the ancient Thunthen hadn't grabbed the nerve deadener just yet. "That is Eyurodin's Hair; a high tensile strength braid of dererium wire. Indeed, only the Goddess herself could break it." Sure enough, the rock spike Kento had summoned to break his bonds had crumbled instead. "Much of our technology is adapted from races we encounter. You know what they say; theft is the sincerest form of flattery…" Kento blinked and made a face.

"…I think that's 'imitation', dude…" Plaedarr paused in his work and glanced at him.

"Is it?..." he frowned then shrugged. "Eh, I like my version better…" Kento tried to teleport, but apparently being restrained prevented such. "You must know this isn't personal."

"Why do people always say that when it really is?" Kento protested.

"No…actually, in your case, it isn't. I'm a Bloodhun; a life-seeker. I am a professional, and considered quite successful, as you can see here." Plaedarr drew his coat to one side, displaying numerous tiny pockets containing glass vials unmistakably filled with blood.

"That…is…sick…" Kento growled through clenched teeth.

"Call it what you will. I call it keeping score. You gave him quite the thrashing, didn't you?" Kento blinked. "He tried to hide it, but even at my age, I could smell the blood…the wire…."

"…well…I don't remember exact details…but I can safely say that Mal Daggur will need to drink out of a straw for a while…and a pair of dentures," Kento said with a grin. Plaedarr paused and turned to the side to face Kento, laying an arm across his knee. Kento tensed and gulped; worried he might've struck a nerve. Plaedarr regarded him evenly then waggled a claw at him.

"…I like you," Plaedarr said and grinned toothily, shaking his head slightly. "It's not often I get to strike up a conversation with one of my targets, but I suppose when you get to be as old as I, you start looking for ways to ease the tedium," he sighed and resumed work on a large metallic object. "It's fairly seldom you see a Nobeyl live to be a ripe _old_ age…"

"…I'm getting the impression that you're not too fond of Mal Daggur…"

"He's half the Noble his father was; literally and figuratively. He presents himself as being clever and ruthless, but deep down he is a hatchling; tempestuous, vain…full of delusions of grandeur… I could have been Supreme High Overlord, but I have no interest in the trappings of politics. A deeper thrill calls to me…" Plaedarr commented. Kento frowned.

"You could switch sides, like Bak and his crew, or like that other guy; Das Anazhar."

"_Pfft_. The Thangiens _highly_ romanticized the account…" Plaedarr sniffed. "Das Anazhar didn't withdraw out of the 'goodness of his heart'. No… he foresaw destruction for both races. I think deep down he believed the Thangiens would make better allies than enemies…"

"There, you see? There's still a chance! You could join us and-" Plaedarr picked up two objects: Kento's wrist-com, and some sort of device. Plaedarr studied the wrist-com briefly then tapped the audio button with a claw. He held the device to his mouth and spoke.

"Hey, guys, I'm going to need backup. I ran into this Noble called Plaedarr Bloodhun-" Kento's eyes widened as he heard his own voice. "Some of you ought to come down here. Over and out." Plaedarr lowered the two objects and smirked. "There…that should do the trick…"

"You really think _you_ can take on my friends?" Kento demanded. Plaedarr hefted the large object he'd been assembling; some sort of large rifle. He picked up a transparent canister out of his pack and inserted it into a slot on the top of the weapon Blue liquid sloshed about inside.

"Oh, I'm fairly certain I _can_. You see, _you_ were fairly easy to subdue," Plaedarr pointed at Kento. "So, it occurs to me; Why settle for bringing Mal Daggur _one_ Ronin Warrior," Kento's eyes widened in dawning realization as Plaedarr Bloodhun stood up and examined the rifle for flaws. "When I can present him with the full set? Mal Daggur prides himself on beating all his opponents on his own. Imagine for this hoary Nobeyl to trump his record." Plaedarr aimed at Kento and grinned wickedly. "So now you could say; this _is_ personal." Kento only knew darkness as a blast of glittering blue crystal enveloped him.

* * *

"'Over and out'? He's been watching too many action movies again," Rowen chuckled.

"Well it must be serious if he can't handle it on his own," Sage commented.

"Should we wake up everyone else?" Cye asked.

"I'm sure the three of us can handle it-oh hey! Anubis! So, how ya feelin?" Rowen flashed the miserable-looking Elder a grin. "You finally finished Michelle's dish?"

"…That standoff…lasted…for three…hours…" Anubis muttered tightly. In truth, only timely intervention from Whiteblaze spared Anubis from consuming the detestable dish. Michelle had partially dozed off and in an instant, Anubis lowered his plate and Whiteblaze cleaned it thoroughly. Anubis placed the empty plate back on the table before Michelle awoke. When she saw it, she mumbled triumphantly, but then sleepily declared she'd cook it again in the future.

"You must be starving then?" Cye remarked

"I found sustenance in secret afterward…"

"You raided the fridge, didn't you?" Rowen smirked. Anubis only replied by averting his gaze. "Speaking of, Kento just called in from patrol. Wanna tag along?"

"Gladly, but shouldn't Ryo be informed?"

"He's asleep upstairs. I figure he needs some 'alone time' with Mia," Rowen snickered.

"You had the dirtiest-looking expression on your face when you said that," Sage grimaced.

"Let's armor up and port out. As long as it's not Mal Daggur, should be easy," Cye reasoned.

* * *

_"Ryo! Ryo! Respond! Ryo! Are you awake?"_

"Hnnnfhhh…" Ryo grumbled and propped himself on one elbow and reached for the nightstand. His fumbling fingers found the band of his wrist-com and he brought it over and thumbed the monitor on. "Bak? What is it?" Ryo asked groggily.

"_You need to come down here immediately. There is a situation."_ Situation? Ryo pulled his legs out from the covers and stood up. He summoned sub-armor but paused before leaving the room and looked over his shoulder at Mia, who remained in peaceful sleep. He had no idea what had Bak so upset, but for some reason Ryo felt uneasy. He closed the door quietly and headed for the closet downstairs. He rode the cable lift down and jogged over to the comm. room.

"What's going on?" As Ryo entered, the main screen immediately caught his attention. He saw the signal columns for the other Ronin, but aside from Cale, Dais, and Tanya, all the other lines displayed as flat. Miz and Ita sat at the console typing frantically while Naz and Tar stood close to the wall, looking concerned. Bak stepped towards him, pale with worry.

"Roughly an hour ago, Kento sent a message requesting aid. Rowen, Cye, Sage, and Anubis left to assist, but soon after they requested backup as well. Sehkmet, Tanya, Cale, and Dais joined the fray, but it turned out to be an elaborate trap. We've lost contact with all but three-"

All of a sudden, the line showing Cale's signal went flat. Tanya and Dais voiced their shock over the open channel and Dais insisted Tanya withdraw while he shielded himself with illusions.

"Why wasn't I informed about any of this?!" Ryo demanded. Miz glanced at him.

"The others declined to disturb you," he simply replied. Ryo opened his mouth to argue.

_"OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! HE GOT DAIS! HE GOT DAIS! HE WAS HIDDEN AND HE STILL GOT HIM!"_ Tanya shrieked over the open channel.

"Tanya! Tanya, can you hear me?! Listen, find a safe spot and hide yourself! Run as far as you can! I'll port over and get you!" Ryo shouted into his com.

* * *

Tanya Sanada never felt so terrified before in her life. She came to a stop near a moss-choked cliff and tucked herself into the darkest crag. She gulped several times to calm herself and glanced around, listening for the slightest creak or scrape. She stifled a sob, not wanting to appear _that_ weak, and took several deep breaths. "I-I-I think I lost him," she whispered.

"Guess again." Tanya scrambled to her feet and whirled around.

* * *

Ryo's blood froze in his veins when he heard the hissing crackle and saw Tanya's signal go flat. The other Thunthen in the room also went silent. The signal line wrinkled slightly and ragged breathing could be heard over the channel. _"You're the last one, aren't you?"_ a voice rasped. "_The leader, no doubt. Your friends are alive-for now- and in my keeping. Feel free to try and 'rescue' them, if you have the spine for it. I'll keep the torch burning…hah hah haaahh!"_

The signal cut off and Ryo stood there, numbed. No one said anything for several moments. "It would seem…" Bak began carefully. "That your friends ran afoul of Rammaz Plaedarr."

"…Who…is this guy?" Ryo asked shakily and looked up at Bak. The other Thunthen gathered around, looking solemn. Ita glanced at the sires and stepped forward.

"He is Bloodhun…tall tale…living legend…folk hero," she managed.

"He is Ander to our people. He is a very old and very powerful Noble," Bak added.

"He's older than Tar, if you can believe such a thing," Naz jerked a thumb at the aforementioned. Tar snorted ruefully and folded his arms.

"He hearkens to a very old tradition. As the firstborn of a clan-clutch, he takes the name of both parents. Ram. Maz. Rammaz," Tar explained and held up two claws. "Indeed, he has outlived nearly every relative in his clan. He also goes by the title Plaedarr Bloodhun."

"Bloodhun specialize in espionage, assassination, infiltration, extrication, interrogation, pain, torture, and more pain," Miz counted off on his fingers.

"All is not lost, however. Just like Mal Daggur, his ego can be used against him. He is very dangerous, but he is also very old, and very proud. He keeps the other Ronin alive for a reason, and in that there is hope. Miz, can you locate Kento's signal? That might be a clue to where the others are being taken," Bak asked. Miz called up a map of a small mountain.

"Have any of our weapon shipments arrived? I'd like to give that old codger a piece of my mind and then some," Tar grumbled and looked to Ita.

"Only phergon pistols. Not enough against whatever Rammaz used," Ita admitted.

"I won't ask you to come with me," Ryo stated abruptly. "We've asked enough of you all already. This guy wants me? He'll get me, and I'll make him pay for attacking us. If worst comes to worst, you'll need to send word to Thanged. Mia knows where I keep the crystal beacon…" Ryo's breath caught as he remembered her. He set his jaw, determined to come back to her safely. He turned to leave but paused and looked over his shoulder at the Thunthen.

He couldn't help but marvel at how _human_ they seemed, despite their alien appearance. They had hopes and worries, dreams and fears. They sang songs and laughed, and enjoyed food and conversation. Ryo opened his mouth to express his gratitude, but hesitated. They believed in him; he had to believe in himself. He nodded respectfully at Bak and turned to leave.

"Ryo." Ryo paused and looked over his shoulder when Bak spoke. "Beware the Demon's Sight. The darkness will not offer you sanctuary," he cautioned. Ryo nodded understandingly.

"Can he do it? Can he defeat Rammaz Plaedarr?" Ita asked softly.

"He will. Roth empowers the righteous," Tar replied and smiled.

* * *

Not wanting to risk teleporting straight into an ambush, Ryo glided on silver-coated dragon wings. In the time it'd taken for him to reach the area, Plaedarr Bloodhun had apparently deposited the rest of his catch within a cave. He spotted the entrance far below and folded the wings in a dive. He swooped inside and alighted on the rocky floor. While he lacked the senses of Whiteblaze, he remained alert as he proceeded, letting his eyes adjust to the gloom.

The red nictitating membrane slid over the eyeball and his gaze followed the human male. He quietly raised the large rifle, masking his movements deftly. The liquid inside the canister sloshed, however, and Ryo heard the sound in time to move to the side as a glittering blue pulse shot towards him. He raised his right wing, managing to intercept the pulse, but his arm became heavy. Ryo looked down, stunned to see the entire wing encased in bluish crystal. It looked familiar somehow… He gasped and spotted faint shadowed movement in the cavern and raised his left wing. He unfurled it and pointed the tip at the shadow, firing off a small pulse of fire.

Plaedarr rolled to the side and used a column to shield himself from the blast. "My aim's off…" he grumbled. The rock sizzled and glowed with heat. When he looked back out into the chamber, the human male had vanished. "Silly boy…there's nowhere to hide in _here_."

Ryo took off running into the dark, using the light from a single glow-stick to guide his way. He skidded to a stop when he entered a dimly lit chamber, eyes widening in horror as he beheld nine glittering blue crystals; each slightly larger than a human being. He could barely make out shadowy forms within each one and sensed the spirits of the other Ronin resonating faintly.

Ryo glanced at the crystal covering his wing and at the crystalline tombs and recognized the substance as the same that had once encased Pegasus. He glanced over his shoulder nervously, remembering Bak's warning as well as Tanya's frantic message. The chamber offered little in the way of cover save a few columns and a large stalagmite. No other passages connected to the chamber; he had no choice but to make his stand here. He looked up at the ceiling.

Plaedarr Bloodhun crept into the chamber housing his collection and scanned the room briefly with normal vision. He closed his left eye and opened it, revealing the red-tinted membrane. He grinned when he spotted a patch of bright heat near the large stalagmite and took aim. He pulled the trigger, covering the heat source and the stalagmite with crystal. Plaedarr smirked and sauntered over towards the tomb to inspect his catch. He frowned when the heat source seemed to fade and retracted the nictitating membrane. He fetched a small lamp from his coat and shone the beam onto the crystal. The heat came only from the rock within, nothing else.

"…clever boy…" Rammaz Plaedarr muttered. His gaze snapped up when he heard a yowl and he barely stepped away in time to avoid being impaled by a long white object. Ryo, wearing full White Dragon armor, dropped from the ceiling and plunged his lance into the insidious rifle, shattering the liquid-filled canister. Plaedarr let go of his ruined weapon and staggered back, and Ryo similarly had to spring away from his lance as the crystalline substance encased it along with the rifle. Plaedarr grabbed small packets from his shell and hurled them against the walls. The packets exploded into soft green light, revealing his enemy.

"I've heard your people referred to as 'dragon-men'. Let's see how you do against a _real_ dragon!" Ryo challenged and lashed the armor's tail. Raurgoth's wings, tail, and talons operated as extensions of Ryo's own body, and Ryo spread the wings wide, nearly spanning the entire chamber. The three-toed feet scraped against the floor. Plaedarr looked genuinely impressed but drew two pistols and took aim. Ryo whirled around and raised his wing to shield himself while keeping his body moving to the side. He gasped when the shots punched two holes through the wing membrane merely inches away from his face. He lashed out with the tail and flicked one pistol out of Plaedarr's hand then used his left wing to swat away the other pistol. "What's wrong, old-timer? I thought you Nobles liked fighting tooth-and-nail!" Ryo taunted.

Rammaz Plaedarr charged forward and head-butted Ryo in the chest, sending him crashing against the wall. "There's one last great fight left in me. You should consider yourself honored to have it!" he bellowed and swung with his tail club. Ryo tilted his head to the side in time to avoid it as it struck the rock past his neck. He lashed out with the dragon tail and caught Plaedarr by the ankle, tripping him. While the Noble scrambled to recover, Ryo flapped the wings and vaulted into the air. Plaedarr reached under his coat to grab the nerve deadener, but Ryo descended roaring with talons splayed and kicked the weapon out of the Noble's hand. The talons dug into Plaedarr's coat, cracking some of his precious trophy vials in the process.

To the Noble's credit, Rammaz Plaedarr proved more than capable of matching the increased agility and strength Ryo gained from Raurgoth. The two locked hands and Plaedarr tried bearing Ryo down to his knees, but Ryo stood his ground and coiled the dragon tail behind his heels, bracing himself. He lowered the wing limbs and pushed forward, knocking Plaedarr away with the forelimbs. Plaedarr staggered back a few steps then caught himself.

"The longer you prolong this, the closer your friends draw to death!" he shouted.

"What do you mean?!" Ryo demanded and tensed.

"We adapted the crystal tomb from the Thangiens…but we never quite perfected it. Thangien crystal eventually decays over time, but how long will your friends remain encased? Ten cycles? Twenty? Perhaps centuries, or millennia. Would they even survive? Your friends sleep in unbreakable shells, but how long before it becomes their grave? Only I know how to release them. If you surrender yourself, then I will give them respite," Rammaz Plaedarr stated.

Ryo scowled, contemplating the Nobeyl's bluff. He glanced over his shoulder at the crystal tombs arrayed along the wall then glared back at Plaedarr. "Why are you doing all of this?"

"One last great score to show up that insufferable hatchling, Mal Daggur. Ander's death was _wasted_ on him. This will be _my_ monument; a deed to be remembered for ages to come!"

"Are you serious? All the years you've lived and you'd waste it all on such a selfish thing?"

"I hate to break things to you, boy, but we're all selfish. From the moment we hatch into this world, we fend for ourselves and ourselves alone. Kindness is just a euphemism for self-preservation. I've made my choices, and not one do I regret. You're no different than I."

Ryo stared at the old Noble. "I actually think I understand…but choices don't go without consequence! You expect me to give up to save my friends? It's not that I don't _want_ to; it's that I _can't_! There are things out there bigger than your ego! There's more to life than glory and fighting. There's Virtue, and Hope, Justice and Wisdom, Trust and Life, Loyalty and Obedience, Serenity and Piety. Bak was right about you! You're old and proud, and you don't know any other way because you can't think any other way! You could've become our friend and fought with us in the End Tide! You don't expect forgiveness because you honestly believe you're right in everything you do. That's your choice, but it's the wrong one!"

"Then we are at an impasse, Ronin Warrior," Plaedarr grinned while he reached under his shell for yet another hidden pistol. "Either I uphold my contract, or I die. Either way, you lose."

"You may hold their bodies, but not their spirits." Ryo bowed his head. _My friends…forgive me_… Ryo threw back his head. "RONIN WARRIORS! I SUMMON YOUR SPIRITS TO MY SIDE!" Plaedarr drew his pistol and aimed for Ryo's face just as Ryo yelled, but he hesitated on squeezing the trigger when the crystal tombs all shattered. Colored light exploded from within, swirling around Ryo. Plaedarr fired multiple times, but a swathe of light intercepted each shot. The lights converged around Ryo's back and a blast of black energy erupted from his feet. Plaedarr had to shield himself with one arm from the uncomfortable light.

When he lowered his arm, his single eye widened upon seeing the human clad in armor that looked forged out of the dark of space itself. Fierce blue eyes glared at him from under the face mask. "So…_this_ is the legendary power of the _Morind de Witheren_…" Rammaz Plaedarr closed his eye and nodded. "What a fitting end, such a glorious death!"

"**Who said anything about dying**?" Ryo spoke in the voice of all ten Ronin Warriors united. "**I'm not going to use this armor to kill you. I'm going to use it to teach you a lesson**." Ryo drew out the sword housing Rowen and Anubis' spirits and the sword bolstering his own. He swept them forward and loosed surges of blue, gold, and crimson. Plaedarr held both arms infront of his face and his armguards produced a large shield of rippling pale blue energy. The blast washed over him like a tide, pushing him back inch by inch. "**We are the Ronin Warriors! Our duty is to protect the innocent from evil, whether it's from this world or elsewhere**."

Plaedarr gasped when he saw the energy creeping through his shield, seeming to crawl over his armguards and coat them with glittering black crystal that looked eerily similar to the crystal tombs. "No…no! No! Plaedarr Bloodhun will not go down like this! NO!"

"**This is the price you pay for your actions. Whether it takes death or a thousand years, you WILL learn your lesson**!" The surge swelled and enveloped Rammaz Plaedarr entirely. The ancient Noble threw up one arm futilely before his body became encased in black crystal. His mouth remained open, frozen in a pathetic cry. Ryo reattached the two swords and studied the tomb of black crystal. "**This is your everlasting monument to your people. Fitting**."

* * *

"We just lost Plaedarr Bloodhun's signal!" a young Noble cried. On the screen, the dot indicating the Thunthen folk hero faded. All around the bridge Nobles and Commons whispered in disbelief. Bru Ranir trembled in the command chair. He had wanted to let the bridge crew watch their idol in action. For his signal to fade so quickly meant…

"Open a channel to _Maw of Flame_! Tell them to begin firing preparations!"

"Commander? Are you sure? The Supreme High Overlord said-" another Noble argued.

"DO IT!" Bru Ranir bellowed. "NO planet is worth _this_ much trouble!"

Back in the cave, Ryo tilted his head up and stared at the ceiling, scowling angrily. **_"I see you, Bru Ranir. Your intentions are laid bare to me."_** The members on the bridge raised eyebrows and looked around nervously. Bru Ranir himself looked startled.

"Where is that coming from?!" he glanced from side to side frantically.

"I'm not intercepting any transmissions. I-I-It's as if it's…coming from the _air_ itself!"

**_"You would use your blasphemous weapon against this beautiful world. I WILL NOT ALLOW IT!"_** Ryo detached the sword wheel and held it above him.

"Incendiary probes primed and ready!"

"FIRE!" Bru Ranir ordered. Far off to the side, the _Vyerrdeklagn_ tilted towards the planet and the metal jaws hinged wide. Rails slid forward, revealing clusters of round objects.

"**WREATH OF CREATION**!" A ring of crackling black energy erupted from the sword wheel, shattering the roof of the cavern and tearing apart the mountain overhead.

_Vyerrdeklagn's_ deadly power came from the drones it launched. Once intended to disperse life-giving bacteria and nutrients into a planet's atmosphere, they had been retrofitted to carry a concentrated payload of highly-flammable chemical. They would fly in formation spreading over the planet, dispersing the chemical into the atmosphere from nozzles on the sides. The chemical would ignite, and depending on the atmospheric composition, tear apart the sky itself.

Incendiary probes proved no match for the power of the World Armor. The power of Gea met the incoming swarm and plowed through the formation like a fist, shattering them all.

"All incendiary probes have been destroyed!" a Noble shouted.

"Commander…I am picking up unusual readings…it's as if the planet's electromagnetic field is…_reaching_ out towards us…" a Common muttered. Bru Ranir sprang from his chair and stormed over to the Common and backhanded him fiercely.

"FOOL! Don't _TELL_ me about it! RESPOOOOND! DISPERSE THE FLEET!" The smaller vessels scattered, but the four capital ships lumbered out of the path of the incoming blast. _Nsenagvvik_ rose up while _Huzonthunorthplier_ veered to the left and _Ramahatesguad_ dove downward. _Vyerrdeklagn_ tilted to the right, but not far enough.

Metal did not shriek in outer space, nor did any crewmember unlucky enough to be caught in the corridors as the surge sheared off nearly the entire left side of the vessel. The energy faded as it passed by. Aboard the _Nsenagvvik_, shaken crewmembers dared open their eyes.

"DAMAGE REPORT!" Bru Ranir roared. The little Khamens crawled back into their seats.

"_His Father's Fist_ remains unscathed…_Hammer of the Stars_ suffered slight damage to communications and monitoring arrays…_The Grinding Teeth's_ starboard hangar has sustained heavy damage…few reported casualties…b-b-but…_half_ of _Maw of Flame_ is-is _gone_!" The main screen displayed the listing partial wreck of the dreaded _Vyerrdeklagn_. Sparks flickered faintly in exposed bulkheads, and debris along with…_other_ things…drifted in space. Bru Ranir staggered back to the chair and sagged down into his seat. He shuddered in shock. _Maw of Flame_-Sur Daggur's legacy- nearly destroyed because of his ineptitude!

"Commander! Multiple incomings from the Transgalactic Gate! Pegasi! Hundreds of Ranks!"

"I'm picking up additional contacts from the planet's surface! More Ranks!" From space, the Mother and the Crafter flew to defend their sister the Protector. From the Earth rose the Retributor leading all the legions he had secreted away there in the past few weeks. All riders wore armor over their entire bodies that proofed them from the cold of space as their Pegasi flew without air shields. Behind the visor of his helmet, Azuro screamed with all his soul.

"GET US OUT OF HERE!" Bru Ranir shouted. The two super-carriers turned away from the planet and the flagship flew between. Troopships gathered around the ruined weapon and helped tow it along while all fighters launched to fend off the Pegasi.

Back on Earth, Ryo trudged out of the ruin of the mountain and climbed atop a pile of shattered slabs. He removed the sword wheel and plunged the swords into the ground, dismissing the World Armor. The other Ronin Warriors materialized, barely conscious or groggy.

"Ooogfh! What happened? I got a headache like a volcano!" Tanya complained. The others slowly came to and Rowen frowned when he saw Ryo standing apart from the rest.

"Hey Ryo, what's wrong?" Rowen asked. Ryo inhaled deeply then exhaled through his nose.

"You know…here I go making a big deal about not using the Armor of Gea for anything except the End Tide…and what do I do? I go using it, on one Noble no less," he huffed.

"Well, in all fairness, I don't think you _had_ a choice," Cye consoled. "It was either that or get our heads mounted over Mal Daggur's mantle," he shrugged cheerfully.

"Besides, with Plaedarr Bloodhun gone, we've dealt as big a blow to the Thunthen as the death of Ander was for the Thangiens," Kento reasoned. Ryo glanced at him, frowning slightly.

"_Ryo! Are you reading me_?" Ryo looked down and raised his arm.

"Bak! Hey! What's up?" Ryo asked with a smile.

"_While I am overjoyed to see you all safe and sound, I thought I should tell you first: Listen, I have no idea what manner of power you unleashed, but you've dealt a mighty blow indeed! The fleet's withdrawn from orbit-"_ Upon hearing that, all of the Ronin broke out cheering ecstatically, hugging each other and pumping fists into the air. "_And I've received word that the_ Vyerrdeklagn's _been effectively crippled! Thanged's Ranks have given chase, but Thunthen ships are fast, and the fleet may escape. Your world can breathe safely once more!"_

"There, you see? Using out the World Armor wasn't such a waste after all," Sage said.

"Congratulations, Ryo. You've saved the world once again," Sehkmet grinned.

"No…_I_ didn't save the world…we _all_ did, all _ten_ of us Ronin Warriors. Because we _are_ Ronin Warriors, whether we all like to admit it or not," Ryo smiled. Anubis smirked and Dais folded his arms over his chest. Tanya brushed a ponytail behind her shoulders and Cale and Sehkmet chuckled merrily. "As long as we have each other, _nothing_ will break us." The ten of them remained there on the shattered rock as dawn crept into the sky.

Far below, underneath tons of rubble lay a figure frozen in glittering black crystal. _No…not like this…not this way… Please, let me die…let me die… PLEASE LET ME DIIIIEEEE!_ His body knew no sensations, and his mind knew no peace. _LET ME DIIIIEEEEE!_

* * *

"I-I-I accept full responsibility for the damage sustained to the fleet, and as such, I will exact the proper punishment…upon myself," Bru Ranir croaked and raised his claws to his throat.

"That…will not…be necessary…" a wet rasping voice hissed from the shadows. Bru Ranir paused and glanced up nervously. "Punishment…has already…been given…to the one at fault."

"You…you mean?" Bru Ranir lowered his arms cautiously.

"Plaedarr Bloodhun…bought too deeply…into his own myth…his reach…exceeded his grasp. He will be…remembered of course…as a hero…who gave his life…for our people."

"Yes, of course," Bru Ranir nodded in agreement and straightened himself. "What of the fleet? We've managed to evade the Thangiens, but _Maw of Flame_ will need extensive repairs."

"Humans have been…_tiptoeing_ since their…'one giant leap'. This system's asteroid belt…is abundant…in raw materials." The shadowed figure leaned forward into the light from the overhead lamp, revealing Mal Daggur's nightmarish visage. Wire kept his jaw shut and rigid, but his lips managed to move enough to form words. "Once we rendezvous with the _rest_ of the fleet…no god can save the Humans." The corners of his lips pulled back in a slight grin.

* * *

Jonathan Proud Wolf carefully pushed aside the tarp covering the tunnel entrance and crept inside quietly. He turned off his flashlight and kept low to the floor as he scooted forward. He paused and knelt down upon seeing the source of the disturbance. He'd spotted faint light earlier while he'd been out at night, and much to his surprise he spotted four women.

One looked grim with dark red hair and stood with her back against the opposite wall. Another had shimmering grayish hair tied back with a spired crown and stood off to the side. The third wore blue and white robes and stooped forward slightly. The fourth knelt on the floor with her hand touching the wall. Silvery hair flowed down her back and sheltered her eyes.

"It's definitely her work," the red-haired woman muttered.

"Do you suppose we could convince her to aid us?" the gray-haired woman asked.

"She insists she serves 'a higher power' now. She's older than the four of us put together, and more than powerful enough to turn us away," the brown-haired woman commented.

"Whatever her reasons, it is not our place to argue. These portents are all we have to go by. They have passed their trials thus far, but they cannot become so dependent on each other that they forget their own individual strengths. They must be strong if they are to overcome the dangers they face ahead," the silver-haired woman stated and ran her yellow-gloved hands over the walls. "Dangers they must face alone." Jonathan vaguely remembered some of the images from the section the women studied. The drawings depicted various members of the Ronin engaged with battle against terrible foes-or in some cases-each other.

"The ghost woman seems content to remain in the Afterworld," the gray-haired woman said.

"It could be that she has faith in the strength and spirit of her charges, unlike we, who meddle," the brown-haired woman sniffed and shrugged her robes.

"We don't _meddle_," the red-haired woman snorted. "We…_nudge_, influence."

"You know…that local boy's been watching us for the past few minutes," the gray-haired woman leaned down and whispered to the silver-haired woman, who hummed and nodded.

"Yes. He thinks himself well hidden in the shadows. He wonders who we are, how we got here, what we speak of." Jonathan blinked in surprise. "Even now he asks himself whether or not we are speaking about him." Jonathan started scooting towards the entrance. The silver-haired woman turned and stared directly into his eyes with eyes with black irises and steel-gray pupils.

Jonathan Proud Wolf tore out of the shaft running faster than he'd ever run before in his life. His boots sent dirt and gravel flying. _You will tell no one that you have seen us. If you do, I will know, **and you will be punished**_! The voice boomed in his mind, and he kept running.

* * *

Afterword

* * *

HOLLLLYYY CRAAAAAP, I had _no_ idea how long it'd been since I started. 2009? That's a pretty damn long time! Work and the occasional writer's block took its toll. Hopefully the next series won't take as long. It's never good to rush things, as I felt I did with the original version. I thank all my fans and friends who've provided me with support and feedback. Cypher in particular for being my longtime beta. I'd also like to thank copious amounts of TSO, 2SFH, Nightwish, Collective Soul, and Foo Fighters for fresh-squeezed creativeade.

I hope everyone's enjoying the story thus far, because it's a pretty big one. Aftermath saw the team getting back into the saddle again, meeting up with old friends and making new ones. One of the problems I had with the original series was that we always heard about them saving the world, but we rarely saw the people they protected. In Foes From Another World we see the Ronin interacting with more people. Everyone has their own little story whether it's Dogged Reporter Woman or Absent-minded Truck Driver. Some chapters were drastically rewritten to give more highlight to existing characters and flesh out new ones, and new characters were redesigned entirely. Several chapters were omitted or consolidated into other chapters.

Certain characters are also noticeably absent from this version. Rest assured they'll be introduced in good time. The process of rewriting resulted in reshuffling the timeline a great deal, so some characters won't be making their debut until much later. FFAW will be followed up by Fight Alone and Neo Ronin, which I plan to write concurrently. I've decided to remove Great Sundering from continuity entirely and no longer consider it part of the overarching storyline, though some plot points might be plundered for other chapters. To be honest, reflecting on it, Great Sundering was somewhat BS. I believe it would be better to keep with the spirit of solidarity among the team, but introduce subtle and profound conflicts they must confront.

I also do not plan on incorporating the Ronin Warriors/Sailor Scouts Unite storylines. There's plenty of crossovers out there and plenty more written better, namely DataRaven's Ronin Summer. Check it out for very fun well-written stories concerning the two teams.

I have been informed of some confusion pertaining to certain chapters. I consider all of my Ronin Warriors works to be part of a single overarching timeline I call Age of Defiance, so all chapters occur within the same universe. I do try to make references in certain chapters to keep everything connected, but sometimes they're easy to overlook. Chapter 1 of Yulie's Tales takes place between chapters 7 and 8 of FFAW. Chapter 2 takes place between chapters 25 and 26. Chapter 1 of Legacy of Wildfire (formerly Heir of Wildfire) is set in the 2-week interim between chapters 21 and 22. Both of these sub-series are set over a span of time within the continuity.

I do not expect to spend a great deal of time rewriting Cataclysm War, as I consider it closest to my current writing style. A few scenes may be reordered or lines of dialogue elaborated, though. Spacequake was intended to be the follow-up, and the Good Mother Saga remains unfinished, though it may be incorporated into the Cataclysm War series. I do treat Age of Defiance as if it were a continuation of the original animated series, and Aftermath is set a few months after the events of Message. At the core are these people we know so well and love, because they are so human. Very rarely nowadays do you see conflict and consequence, and moral weight and sacrifice. This is the spirit I try to keep with Age of Defiance.

I like to thank everyone once again. "See you next time!"


End file.
